Paul's Story - Giving time to Older People
HOW DID YOU START VOLUNTEERING?
I visited the Volunteer Centre in Huddersfield to enquire about volunteering and decided to get involved with the Yorkshire Children’s Centre who were looking for Volunteers to help isolated people with IT skills for 4 or 5 weeks. 7 years on and I am still visiting the gentleman I was matched with!
WHAT VOLUNTEERING DO YOU DO?
I usually make a weekly visit to the gentleman’s home. As a Wheelchair user who is isolated he is unable to get out on his own so we also go to the pub twice a month and on occasional trips such as to the National Coal Mining Museum. I also take round a Christmas Dinner every year. At the moment I am unable to visit him, so we are keeping in contact by telephone instead.
I also run a group called ‘Young at Heart’ which is a social craft group for people dealing with mental health issues, loneliness and isolation. We usually meet at Jo Cox House and we organise transport so there are no barriers for people attending. As we can’t run the service at the moment we are making weekly phone calls to the 15 group members – making sure they have food and medicines. Many of these people aren’t seeing anyone at the moment so the friendly phone calls are important to them.
Over the years I have also got involved in other volunteering opportunities including ‘Words In Mind’ – which is a social reading group helping people with their mental wellbeing. During the lockdown I have been sending the group members poems, texts and funny emails which they have appreciated.
I also volunteer with the Royal Voluntary Service as a Telephone Befriender and I have helped to design a ‘Silver Surfer’ six week computer course for older people.
Through these volunteer roles I have developed an interest in older peoples’ welfare, which I have become passionate about as they are often side-lined in society.
WHY DO YOU VOLUNTEER?
I volunteer to help people but also to keep myself busy and occupied. I have suffered from depression and volunteering has pulled me out of it.
Six years ago, I had a really bad time and volunteering has done as much for me as for those I am helping. You get so much more out of it than you expect, you think you are helping people, but you come away feeling ‘that was good’.
I would encourage anyone new to volunteering to consider telephone befriending, it is the ideal first step. I have underlying health issues and need to isolate at the moment, so for me, giving half an hour out of my week to ring someone is really worthwhile.
To view telephone befriending roles visit our opportunities page