Health and social care is one of the largest volunteering sectors in the UK. This includes organisations like the NHS and charities which improve the wellbeing of people of all ages. So what do helpers actually get involved with? The opportunities are more diverse than we imagined as our bloggers reveal.

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Thursday Dec 10, 2009

Festive Frolics!

Yesterday was our last carers' meeting before Christmas, so we decided to throw a little party!  We decked the halls and put on some festive tunes and arranged a buffet of Christmas foods.  There was plenty of laughter and chatter, and the carers seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves!  I mingled and socialised with lots of different carers including Anne, who I spent most of my time with last week.

There was a tinge of sadness to the event; there's something about Christmas and its orientation around families that heightens the pain of having a loved one with dementia.  A few people understandably became teary and it brought home to me the reality that my own grandfather won't be here this Christmas.  This was something that I worried about before I become a volunteer for the Alzheimer's Society, namely, that it would open up wounds for me what with my own grandfather having died of the illness.  And that did happen yesterday, which was a challenge.  But, on the plus side, it wasn't just sadness that I felt; I also felt empowered as a volunteer as I was really able to empathise with the carers.     

The lady who runs the support group presented me with a bunch of flowers in front of everyone to say thanks for my volunteering work and George*, one of our support group regulars, even gave me some bath products as a Christmas present.  They were both such kind gestures and George's gift in particular reinforced my sense of how truly grateful people can be when you give up your free time for their wellbeing.  For me, moments like that really spur you on as a volunteer.

I'll be honest; volunteering can be emotionally tough and I did go away from the party feeling quite upset.  I couldn't stop thinking about how, for our support group members, Christmas Day wouldn't be the completely joyous occasion that it is for many families.  I think we have to expect to be tested emotionally as volunteers, however, as many of the people we meet are in unfortunate situations; if this wasn't the case, they wouldn't need our help.  Furthermore,  knowing how hard Christmas would probably be for the carers made it even more rewarding to be able to help them enjoy at least some festive fun.  

Merry Christmas everyone and I hope you will join me on my volunteering journey in the new year! 

*Name changed to protect identity  

Posted by Sarah ( 5:24 PM )
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Monday Nov 23, 2009

Touching a Life

My last visit to the carers' support group was the most fulfilling and moving yet.  I had one of those light-bulb moments that you sometimes get as a volunteer where you think to yourself, 'this is why I bother giving up my time for free'. 

Just to explain, there are three of us volunteers that run the support group and we have between four and twelve carers attending the group per month.  Sometimes everyone will chat as a group; other times smaller numbers of people will break off into their own conversations. 

For the past few months I've noticed that a really sweet, quiet lady who attends called Anne* seemed a bit reluctant to join in conversation and I suspected it was because she was a bit shy.  So in the last meeting, I purposely sat next to her thinking that I could try and engage her in one-to-one conversation in case she found group interaction intimidating.  I really didn't want her to go away at the end feeling like she didn't get anything out of the support group because she couldn't bring herself to talk. 

The meeting started off with two representatives from Wiltshire Farm Foods bringing in brochures and samples of the ready meals that they sell (the group co-ordinator occasionally organises talks like this that she feels may be of benefit to the carers).  I took the opportunity to pluck up a conversation with Anne by commenting on the food that we were sampling.  She told me that she has to eat a gluten-free diet, so we ended up leafing through the brochure together working out which meals she could eat. 

We got on to talking about all sorts of things from her daily visits to her husband who suffers from Alzheimer's Disease to grandchildren, Christmas shopping and my hopes to become a teacher!  Three hours later the two of us had been chatting to each other non-stop and I felt that we were really beginning to strike up a friendship.  The other volunteers commented afterwards that they had never seen her talk so much! 

When Anne thanked me for her company at the end of the meeting and told me that it had made her day, I was delighted.  Before I became a volunteer, I used to think that volunteering that didn't make a difference on a grand scale was insignificant.  This experience made me realise that touching the life of one person who is in need of support, like Anne, is what really matters.  It's no small feat because to that one person it means so much.  I was so pleased to be able to bring some companionship and enjoyment into Anne's life, knowing how heartbreaking her husband's illness is for her, even if it was just for one day.  That is what I love about volunteering; not only does it provide invaluable support to those who require it most, but it has a real feel good factor for the volunteer too.

* Name changed to protect identity

Posted by Sarah ( 4:32 PM )
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Wednesday Nov 18, 2009

Breaking out of academia

My name's Sarah, I'm 23 years old and I recently began to feel stuck in the education rut.  After leaving school, I started out studying for a degree in Law at Cardiff University.  After two years of serious slogging I decided that I could no longer bear slaving through dry as dust legislation and reams of tiresome case law; it just wasn't for me. 

Writing has always been my true passion so I decided to change degree course to Journalism, Film and Media (my mum reckons I only chose Law in the first place because I thought it would make me look 'impressive').  So after a bit of pleading (with the lecturers, who were bemused as to why someone would change their mind after two years and my parents, who had to fork out the extra money that comes with starting a new course from scratch) I transferred to Journalism. 

The course is current, dynamic and challenging.  But as this is technically my fourth year of university, over the last year I couldn't help feeling a little trapped in the world of academia.  Aside from the odd shop and bar job here and there it's all I've really known, which isn't a lot for someone into their twenties.  And this is where volunteering comes in.  

I decided to volunteer to give my life a bit more substance so to speak.  There are so many volunteering opportunities out there nowadays that initially I was a bit stumped as to where to begin.  I knew I wanted to commit myself to a cause that I felt passionate about, as there's no better impetus than emotional investment.  I soon realised that it was a natural choice for me to volunteer with the Alzheimer's Society.  My grandfather died of this cruel illness five years ago; he was an amazing, kind man and one of the dearest people to me.  I couldn't think of a more motivating factor than that of cherishing my grandfather's memory. 

I called my local branch of the Alzheimer's Society in July of this year and signed up as a carers' support group volunteer.  The role involves going along to a monthly support group for people who care for loved ones with dementia and offering a sensitive and supportive ear.  Some days will be incredibly sad and might involve me reassuring a carer whose partner no longer recognises them.  Other days the carers might feel like talking about anything but dementia and we end up having a real laugh.  Either way, I always go away feeling like I've made a difference to someone's day and I couldn't think of any other volunteering role I'd rather be doing.

Posted by Sarah ( 11:15 AM )
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