We are happy to announce a new partnership between Institute 361 and Umbrella Multicultural Hubs. This is exciting for a few reasons:
Firstly, a very fitted approach to both organisations with a focus on multicultural development. The game of Go naturally focuses on cultures, recognising its historical cultural heritage significance, while it creates a space to share learning with people from different cultures and ages. Umbrella Multicultural Services and Care is well recognised organisation in Western Australia, and it has a long history in award-winning services to seniors in Perth and the Peel regions. Multiculturalism is at the heart of what we do.
Secondly, this is a unique opportunity to work with the newly established Village Hubs, which aim to create and strengthen social connections for people over 55. From research, we know that social isolation is “the hidden killer” for many people, and especially older adults. We are excited to partner with Umbrella, which is the only recipient of three Village Hubbs in Western Australia to focus on multicultural communities and older Australians.
Lastly, this is exciting because the partnership paves the way for future collaborations with community providers, who work with people from diverse cultures, ages, language backgrounds and abilities. The results will provide a much-needed insights into the value of re-introducing traditional games as a social intervention to reduce social isolation and loneliness. This research is affiliated with the University of Western Australia Social Care and Ageing (SAGE) Living Lab.
This partnership is a continuation of the previous program “Let’s get Social” run by Umbrella, where participants visited UWA to learn to play Go.
To find out more about the free Go sessions click here.