- Date: 04/02/2020
Over the next month, we’re celebrating all our volunteers across Honeycomb Group.
This week the spotlight is on our volunteers at Revival.
Tracy is one of our Getting Connected volunteers: “I basically call in to see some customers that I’ve been matched with once a week on a set day that suits both of us. The other week she turned to me and said that she really looked forward to me coming each week. To me that makes it really worthwhile.”
Our Getting Connected volunteers work with customers over 75 for a set amount of time to connect them to groups and activities nearby to help them feel like part of the community. We also have Wellbeing Support volunteers who help people of all ages who have recently left hospital.
Tracy has been volunteering for a few months and is now on her second customer, a lady named Ann: “We chat for around an hour, mostly about what’s happened over the week.
“It’s good fun. She’s always interested in what I’ve been up to and what’s gone on in my week. Ann has got a great sense of humour and such a wicked laugh. That alone just makes me smile.”
Tracy works full time in the ceramics industry but says the role easily fits around her busy lifestyle: “An hour a week is nothing and I can easily work around it. It’s good to give a bit back.”
As part of her role, Tracy looks at various groups she could help Ann join. After Ann talked about doing her degree aged 65 and her love of learning new things, Tracy mentioned about them both joining the Women’s Institute.
“When I asked Ann about it, she said that she would love to and that it had made her Christmas. We’re going along for the first time later this month.” She is also looking into ways Ann can still get to the meetings if she can’t go with her: “If I can do that then I’ll feel as if I have achieved something for her too.”
As well as matching people to customers, our dedicated team are also on hand to help support volunteers: “They’re always there if I have any questions I can just message.
“When I started befriending a new person, Helen, my volunteer officer, came along with me on the first day to do a safety check to see how the access was, where I could park my car – that meant a lot to me.
“I enjoy it so much I recommended it a friend’s mum and now she’s a volunteer here too.
“It’s an absolute pleasure to do and I’m proud of doing what I do for Revival and I think it’s great.”
Click here to find out more about volunteering for Revival. To see our opportunities across Honeycomb Group, click here.