FOR four decades, the Seymour Centre has been a place that the elderly can come to meet new people and have a little fun.
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On Wednesday, the beloved community facility celebrated the major milestone, its 40th birthday.
The Seymour Centre began as an initiative of the Uniting Church, starting with just a handful of clients.
"It was started because the hospice of the Uniting Church, they had some frail-aged people come from the hospital and need some social contact, so they had they idea of bringing them to a central place and giving them a meal and some entertainment," Joan Connell said.
The centre originally operated, with the help of volunteers, from a church hall until the late 1980s before it moved to a purpose-built facility in Seymour Street.
Ms Connell has been with the Seymour Centre for almost the whole time, taking on various volunteer roles.
"I had newly come to Bathurst and knew nobody in town except for my brother-in-law and his wife. The church, they wanted helpers and I thought this would be a way for me to get to know more people," she said.
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On Wednesday, she was at the birthday celebrations, pleased to see how much the Seymour Centre had grown to cater to more people.
"It's tremendous. It's just grown, it's been like Topsy," Ms Connell said.
At the helm of the Seymour Centre now is CEO Terisa Ashworth, who runs the centre alongside a long list of staff and volunteers.
The centre is open five days a week, as well as one Saturday a month to meet the demands of clients.
On offer are a range of programs, including fun activities, a men's shed, local outings and outreach services.
"The main thing that we provide is social wellbeing and respite," Ms Ashworth said.
Volunteers continue to be a huge part of the centre, with people filling a wide variety of roles such as running activities, helping with outings and doing clerical work.
There are also corporate volunteers who work with the Seymour Centre.
"[Volunteers] can be people who come in on a regular basis or it can be people who come in for a specific program," Ms Ashworth said.
To celebrate turning 40, the Seymour Centre had a party with an all white theme.
Guests enjoyed a barbecue lunch and dessert in between activities that included live music, a fashion parade and a quiz.
Community radio station 2MCE also did a live broadcast from the centre, where they took requests and conducted interviews.
Ms Ashworth said the Seymour Centre will be around "for another 40 years" and continue to expand to meet the needs of its clients.
