Last week seniors not only discussed community safety with Nyngan Police Sergeant Tony Wood and Constable Amy Richards, but participated in a number of strength and balance exercises with Physio Ellen Pattison from the Western NSW Health District. 

Sergeant Wood said the first half of their discussion focuses on senior’s safety issues such as pedestrian, road and traffic safety, bicycles on paths, safe routes and even home security. However he mentions the second half is valuable and works as an open forum to ask and communicate questions. 

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“We don’t want people to become reclusive due to a perceived fear of crime so we like to talk about what the actual crime issues, if there are any, in a town and what precautions they might like to take,” Sergeant Wood said.

“We often find that senior citizens have the perception that they’re at a higher rate of victimisation of crime, where as our crime data shows the opposite case, they are in one of the safest crime categories, so we talk about that,” he said.

During the forum, Sergeant Wood said they discuss questions which range from anything on rural crime, drug related issues, local crime strategies though to staffing resources and new technologies.

“We like to engage the community,” Sergeant Wood said.

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“There’s a perception that police are always busy and, certainly while we are busy, we like to make time for the good people in the community.

“Police are ineffective if we can’t communicate with the community so this is a good opportunity to remind them that we’re available to them and encourage them to contact us at any time,” he said. 

Sergeant Wood said he has been impressed with how well the sessions have been received, which has been the main motivation for returning each year. 

“It doesn’t have to be a day like this, we have coffee with a cop, but the community are also welcome to contact us at any time,” Sergeant Wood said.

“The door’s always open and we will always make time to speak with the good members of our community,” he said. 

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The second half of the morning ended with a visit from Dubbo Physio Ellen Pattison from the Western NSW Health District, who got the seniors moving with a number of weight building exercises. 

Seniors were then broken into small groups  to complete a number of obstacle courses to build strength and balance. 

Registered Nurse and organiser Bernadette Holmes said the program is presented by health professionals who provide up to date advice on how to build confidence and stop falls. 

The Stepping On program is free and available for people 65 and over. The initiative includes practical exercises to improve strength and balance and covers a range of topics and sessions with local health professionals and guest speakers.