Visits foster diversity

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
MANY older Italians can feel isolated from the community and have trouble accessing services.
It was these issues and more that members of the Yarra Valley Italian Cultural Group discussed when they met up with Minister for Multicultural Affairs Nick Kotsiras this month.
The group’s president Luigi Fotia, secretary Maria McCarthy and Evelyn MP Christine Fyffe met with the minister at the Lilydale Motor Inn on Thursday 10 March.
Mr Kotsiras praised the group for its community work which includes helping retired Italians visit the graves of loved ones.
Mrs McCarthy said she had been impressed with the success of the shuttle service to Lilydale Cemetery, which began earlier this year with the help of Lilydale Rotary and Morrison House.
The unexpected uptake saw the group having to double the frequency of trips which takes a group of ladies from the Lilydale area and a group from Silvan, Mount Evelyn and Wandin to the cemetery once a month. Mrs Fyffe, who is a British immigrant, said she continued to support the great work of the Yarra Valley Italian Cultural Group, “both in their work with the elderly and in fostering the cause of multiculturalism”.
“With one in five people in the electorate being born overseas, multiculturalism and ethnic diversity is a key part of Evelyn,” Mrs Fyffe said.
“As an immigrant to the country myself, I truly appreciate the value of multiculturalism in the community.”