All kinds of volunteering can make a difference to society, but opportunities like these have community enrichment at their core.

All | Moira | Sharon | Will | Andy | Ray | EmmaM

Friday Aug 20, 2010

Arts and crafts, lunch club and a simple philosophy

Afternoon, just to say hello again after a short hiatus which has been filled with lots of enjoyable volunteering activities, some new volunteers and some new volunteering opportunities for the interested and free from North London. I hope you will spend a little time to read this and then get yourself active with a volunteer role this summer...especially if you are on summer holidays!

Ok, so since the last time I dropped in we have had another successful event at the New Park Day Centre in Highbury. Thanks to the great staff there who provide us with a wonderful working space and the materials to do something good we have been squeezing this opportunity dry. I recently organised a 'Summer Holiday Special' event with the older people who use this centre. The idea was to try and recreate pictures from summer holidays they have been on and commit them to paper – as stylistically as possible.

Unfortunately, for the older people they have me as an example. I have no artistic talent, eye, fingers or flair for art and my example often looks like I've painted a recently tranquilised bear, such is the lack of grace and effeteness that my examples display.

So, these poor people not only have to see my scribblings, but use it as an example, nevertheless, these are talented folk and I will gladly take the glory for anything that looks half decent. "Ah, Iris, good work, couldn't have done it without my example."

Granted, my skills are lacking, but to put enough people in a room and offer them some direction, some guidance and help when talking to older people is what the jist of my volunteering is. If they can create a wonderful piece of art but do not engage, I am disappointing, if it looks slightly psychopathic and disturbing but they had a nice chat about holidays in Spain, then I am happy. That's as simple as my volunteering philosophy gets.

To go along with these monthly-or-so arts & crafts activities, we are also providing regular opportunities for a lunch club twice a week to volunteers. This has helped introduce new volunteers to older people and improve confidence and ability, a young Italian volunteer has been helping out and this has helped improve her English immeasurably whilst creating valuable relationships with older people. We have introduced several new volunteers to this opportunity.

To go along with the ongoing volunteering roles available I am currently in the process of supporting a local film-maker who wants to make a documentary about older people in the area. I have guided and assisted him through this process and we are aiming to film and edit the film in the next couple of months. Once this is finished we will put on an exhibition for the older people who took part and have a nice final product.

I am also developing a new partnership with the Peel Centre who support older people in the community with lunch clubs and activities. I want to develop a current affairs group – along with some younger volunteers we will discuss the news of the week and see if there are contrasting views between the young and the old in their opinions. To accompany this I am looking to start a music appreciation group also with the Peel Centre. This will be playing music from the 1940s & 1950s to the older people and asking them to put down their thoughts, opinions, memories and feelings about this music.

Once again it has been busy as a full-time volunteer and Young at Heart provides lots of opportunities and access for volunteers and older people in the Camden and Islington area, so if you are around and interested please give me an e-mail at youngatheartlondon@hotmail.co.uk and we can get started!

Posted by Andy ( 11:45 AM )
Link to this post Comments[1]