{"id":5668,"date":"2026-10-29T00:06:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:06:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/?p=5668"},"modified":"2026-10-29T00:08:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-29T00:08:59","slug":"it-started-with-a-game-of-pool-then-the-whole-village-joined-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.villages.com.au\/retirement\/it-started-with-a-game-of-pool-then-the-whole-village-joined-in\/","title":{"rendered":"It started with a game of pool. Then the whole village joined in"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"5668\" class=\"elementor elementor-5668\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f608a6b elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"f608a6b\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-df3988b\" data-id=\"df3988b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d2e572e elementor-drop-cap-yes elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d2e572e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-settings=\"{&quot;drop_cap&quot;:&quot;yes&quot;}\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p>A <strong>few mates from a retirement village getting together for a game of billiards and a beer might not seem like anything extraordinary.<\/strong><\/p><p>But at <a href=\"https:\/\/pinnacleliving.com.au\/\">Pinnacle Living<\/a>&#8216;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au\/vic\/bellarine-peninsula\/bellarine-springs-6434\">Bellarine Springs Retirement Village<\/a>, in Drysdale, 20km from Geelong, Victoria, those regular gatherings have grown into something much more meaningful.<\/p><p>Two residents, Tom and Clive, decided the friendships formed through the village&#8217;s popular Blokes, Beers and Billiards group could help tackle an issue that often goes unspoken among older Australians.<\/p><p>Loneliness and mental health.<\/p><p>Their idea led to Bellarine Springs holding its first <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ruok.org.au\/\">R U OK? Day<\/a>, bringing residents together to talk openly about mental wellbeing and the importance of looking out for one another.<\/p><p>The event included a sausage sizzle, guest speakers and practical advice on how to start a conversation with someone who might be struggling.<\/p><p>Jess, from Barwon Health&#8217;s Mental Health and Wellbeing Local team, explained the free mental health services available to people living in the Greater Geelong region.<\/p><p>Residents also heard from community ambassador Natalie Woodfull, who shared her personal experiences with mental health and the strategies that helped her through challenging times.<\/p><p>Her message was simple: reaching out and staying connected can make an enormous difference.<\/p><p>Residents were encouraged to ask questions, learn about available support and recognise when someone might need a friendly conversation.<\/p><p>For Tom and Clive, what began as a social gathering over the billiards table became an opportunity to make a difference across their community.<\/p><p>Local businesses also supported the event, helping turn the residents&#8217; idea into a village-wide occasion.<\/p><p>Having neighbours nearby, shared facilities and regular activities create opportunities for friendships that might not develop as easily when living alone.<\/p><p>And those friendships can become particularly important when life gets difficult.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e305ff elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"8e305ff\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.15.0 - 20-08-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"569\" src=\"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/RUOK-1-1024x758-1.png\" class=\"attachment-medium_large size-medium_large wp-image-5672\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d08d719 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"d08d719\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2864697\" data-id=\"2864697\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-95f166c elementor-button-success elementor-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-button\" data-id=\"95f166c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"button.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-button-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"elementor-button elementor-button-link elementor-size-sm\" href=\"https:\/\/thedcmgroup.createsend1.com\/t\/y-e-fhidktt-l-v\/\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-content-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-button-text\">Return to Newsletter<\/span>\n\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few mates from a retirement village getting together for a game of billiards and a beer might not seem like anything extraordinary. But at Pinnacle Living&#8216;s Bellarine Springs Retirement Village, in Drysdale, 20km from Geelong, Victoria, those regular gatherings have grown into something much&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5668"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5675,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5668\/revisions\/5675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.villages.com.au/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}