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 Apr 08, 2010

Shelter from the storm

Hi

I'm Jenni, im a volunteer for Shelter from the Storm, a homeless charity in London.

So why do I volunteer at Shelter from the Storm? Well, it all started when I volunteered for Crisis over the Christmas period. I always knew homelessness was an issue, it didn't take much to work that out, I just had to take a stroll down my road to meet more than one Big Issue seller, or take a walk through Old Street station and you will meet 5 or 6 homeless people in the space of five hundred yards. But with a few weeks over Christmas with the prospect of not much more than eating turkey and staring at the TV I decided to put my time to use and volunteered for Crisis, at their dependency centre. This is the temporary shelter that the charity Shelter put up for homeless people with alcohol or drug dependency's for a few weeks every Christmas.

I'd never done any volunteering like this before. I met homeless people, helped them get warm clothes, a bed to sleep in and some warm food. Some people shared their life stories with me, others just sat and played scrabble. I found myself enjoying it and when Christmas was over and I'd waved goodbye to some new friends I thought I needed to do something that felt a little more permanent. Soon after I received an email from Crisis saying that an organisation called Shelter from the Storm was looking for volunteers.

I jumped at the chance of doing some similar voluntary work and signed up straight away. Within a week I had secured myself a regular Thursday shift and I realised just how different it was volunteering in a permanent shelter. The atmosphere is welcoming and calm, the guests and volunteers friendly and approachable. The shelter sleeps 45 guests each night apart from Friday night when it is closed.  The guests have a bed to sleep in for as long as they need it, and two cooked meals a day.

No drugs or alcohol can be consumed on the premises, so the atmosphere is slightly different to Dependency Centre, but just as enjoyable.

I help to cook dinner, wash up, fold clothes, play ping pong and listen to anything any of the guests would like to talk to me about.

During my time at SFTS I will be writing this blog, to talk about my experience volunteering for a homeless charity!

Keep an eye out for updates...

Posted by Jenni ( 9:33 AM )
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