Hundreds gathered on Sunday for the Christmas party organised by the Federation of the Greek Elderly Citizens Clubs of Melbourne and Victoria.

The end of year celebration event took place at Stars International Reception Centre in Preston, featuring a lavish meal and live entertainment provided by the orchestra Melvourniotes.

Community members turned out en masse at the annual Christmas celebration organised by the Federation of the Greek Elderly Citizens Clubs of Melbourne and Victoria. Photo: Con Deves.

A number of dignitaries and Greek community and church stakeholders were present including Bishop Evmenios, Federal Member for Cooper Ged Kearney, Chairperson of the Multicultural Victorian Commission Vivienne Nguyen, President of Fronditha Jill Taylor and President of the GOCMV Bill Papastergiadis.

Attendees at the event included Greek church figures such as the Bishop Evmenios of Kerasounta, as well as members of the broader community, like VMC President VIvienne Nguyen. Photo: Con Deves.

The Federation President John Kostoulias welcomed the attendees with a speech, while Neos Kosmos’ Claire Gazis was the MC for the event.

The Federation offers support and resources to the Greek elderly, helping out a total of 114 clubs with 22,000 members across the state.

“It all started in 1984 by the late Petros Yiallouris,” Ms Gazis explained, “in order to give a voice to the elderly, to form a body to represent their rights and to look for resources for a better life for them.”

Claire Gazis, MC of the event. Photo: Con Deves.