Volunteers Week
We think all our volunteers are amazing and to celebrate we've given out some prestigious awards for Volunteers Week. We can't give everyone an award, even though they all deserve one, so we've come up with a few awards that are representative of all our volunteers. Here's a list of the awards and winners:
The Bees Knees Volunteer Award - Mike Bowden
The Energising Bunny Award - Jude Blair
The Hitting the High Notes Award - Helen Lowe
The Standing Ovation Award - Anna Koumantou
The Time Flies Award - Sarah Kearns
The Top Banana Award - Jessica Lawn
Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing some of their stories, so watch this space.
The Bees Knees Volunteer Award - Mike Bowden
The Energising Bunny Award - Jude Blair
The Hitting the High Notes Award - Helen Lowe
The Standing Ovation Award - Anna Koumantou
The Time Flies Award - Sarah Kearns
The Top Banana Award - Jessica Lawn
Over the next few weeks we'll be sharing some of their stories, so watch this space.
Volunteer Training
Care Home Friends training Saturday 6th July, 9.30am to 12.45pm. Twickenham Green Baptist Church
We have a team of about 60 dedicated volunteers and we are always recruiting more. All our volunteers receive training and ongoing support in their roles and most need to undergo a DBS check.
Click here to view current volunteering opportunities
Click here to view current volunteering opportunities
Meet some of our volunteers:
Migle Rimonyte moved to the UK from Lithuania in 2012, finding work in a mental health charity project as an assistant services manager. After settling here, she began to seek ways to broaden her social network.
“The idea of finding some new friends and sharing good moments with other people; learning different things and listening to their stories really appealed,” Migle recalls, so she decided to get involved in voluntary charity work. “I didn’t have any specific charity in mind. I applied to a few, and Embracing Age came back to me."
“I was quite anxious to start as I never had experience of caring for elderly,” Migle recalls, “but listening to other people’s stories has always interested me, and the elderly have lots of them! On meeting the care home manager, I knew that things would be fine.”
However, Migle couldn’t have anticipated the difference her time would make when she first met Ros, a former junior school teacher, at the care home. Ros taught for 38 years, before retiring in 1997.
“I’d been at Alexander House for at least 10 years before receiving visits from Migle,” Ros explains. “It's made a great deal of difference – there aren’t many people here I can have a chat with, and Migle's good at making conversation.”
Not long after her visits began, Migle discovered Ros wanted to learn some computer skills. “I was given a laptop and had started experimenting on it,” Ros says. “Donna, the home manager, suggested doing a newsletter.”
“I'm not an expert,” Migle adds, “but I knew enough of the basics and began to teach her. Together, we started the Alexander House Newsletter!”
“Migle is very good,” Ros remarks. “She makes me do a lot of it and doesn't take over if I'm making slow progress.”
“All of the residents are really enjoying reading it,” Migle reflects. “We add lots of pictures and useful information about what's happening at the care home – its bringing joy to a lot of people helping them feel more connected.”
The relationship is two-way, and they both enjoy a game of scrabble, while Ros has taught Migle how to do quilling. Together they make quilled cards that Ros sells to care home visitors, donating the profits to charity.
A year after her first visit, Migle feels right at home, still enjoying every moment. “Ros always looks forward to my visits and plans our meetings. Volunteers only need to spare an hour a week, but the benefits are enormous!”
“I've enjoyed everything with Migle,” smiles Ros. “It's lovely having her here and we do a variety of things together - today we're looking forward to going out for an ice cream!”
“The idea of finding some new friends and sharing good moments with other people; learning different things and listening to their stories really appealed,” Migle recalls, so she decided to get involved in voluntary charity work. “I didn’t have any specific charity in mind. I applied to a few, and Embracing Age came back to me."
“I was quite anxious to start as I never had experience of caring for elderly,” Migle recalls, “but listening to other people’s stories has always interested me, and the elderly have lots of them! On meeting the care home manager, I knew that things would be fine.”
However, Migle couldn’t have anticipated the difference her time would make when she first met Ros, a former junior school teacher, at the care home. Ros taught for 38 years, before retiring in 1997.
“I’d been at Alexander House for at least 10 years before receiving visits from Migle,” Ros explains. “It's made a great deal of difference – there aren’t many people here I can have a chat with, and Migle's good at making conversation.”
Not long after her visits began, Migle discovered Ros wanted to learn some computer skills. “I was given a laptop and had started experimenting on it,” Ros says. “Donna, the home manager, suggested doing a newsletter.”
“I'm not an expert,” Migle adds, “but I knew enough of the basics and began to teach her. Together, we started the Alexander House Newsletter!”
“Migle is very good,” Ros remarks. “She makes me do a lot of it and doesn't take over if I'm making slow progress.”
“All of the residents are really enjoying reading it,” Migle reflects. “We add lots of pictures and useful information about what's happening at the care home – its bringing joy to a lot of people helping them feel more connected.”
The relationship is two-way, and they both enjoy a game of scrabble, while Ros has taught Migle how to do quilling. Together they make quilled cards that Ros sells to care home visitors, donating the profits to charity.
A year after her first visit, Migle feels right at home, still enjoying every moment. “Ros always looks forward to my visits and plans our meetings. Volunteers only need to spare an hour a week, but the benefits are enormous!”
“I've enjoyed everything with Migle,” smiles Ros. “It's lovely having her here and we do a variety of things together - today we're looking forward to going out for an ice cream!”
© 2019 Embracing Age
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