rebeccadjanogly

I recently read about yet another piece of research showing that loneliness in our busy world is inexorably on the rise.

Loneliness is a massive issue for people in later life in the UK. Half of all people aged 75 and over live alone, and 1 in 10 people aged 65 or over say they are always or often feel lonely – that’s just over a million people.

Shockingly, half of all older people consider the television their main form of company.

Loneliness doubles the incidence of depression, yet in our confessional culture it seems to be OK to admit to alcoholism, drug addiction, shoplifting or infidelity.  You might even be praised for your integrity but see how people quickly shrink away if you admit that you are lonely.   The reality is that most people will not admit they are lonely for fear of scaring away anybody who might just occasionally relieve the loneliness.

This was brought home to me when I was contacted by Linda Page at Age UK. Linda wanted me to learn more about the work of volunteers at Age UK in Cambridgeshire but when I said that I wanted to meet somebody who was being helped, Linda struggled to find me a client who was suitable and happy to be featured.

Asking for help if you are lonely is brave but agreeing to become involved with somebody who is elderly and lonely also takes courage.

Sue Horton  is a quietly spoken, engaging and modest lady with a charm that shines throughout our conversation.  She has been visiting isolated, elderly people through Age UK for more than seven years.

‘My mum had died just before I saw an article in the local paper for Age UK.  I was close to my mother but she wasn’t local so I didn’t see so much of her.  I was so grateful at the time that she’d had so many friends helping her.  I contacted Linda, who is the visiting scheme co-ordinator and it just went from there.

My first lady was Ann.  Linda assessed Ann before I met her, to make sure that she could maintain a conversation and that she was likely to benefit from regular visits.’

‘Linda accompanied me the first time and introduced me, from then on I just continued visiting once a week.  It was soon after her husband had died so she was really pleased just to have somebody to talk to.  The main purpose of the visit is to relieve isolation and loneliness.’

‘Ann really enjoyed a quality conversation.. It was marvelous as we both had the same sense of humour We used to chat  for about an hour or two about anything and everything from what’s happening in the village to what’s in the national newspapers or even just a good TV programme. Sometimes we would play cards or dominoes. ‘

Ann’s dementia progressed and she moved into a care home, I continued to visit her, but now she had people around her she wasn’t so isolated. As the dementia set in she recognised me less.‘

Everyone who joins the scheme takes a 2-3 hour induction training programme but Linda and the team at Age Uk are always in the background to provide backup if necessary. Other parts of Age UK help the elderly with issues such as advocacy and home help but the volunteers do the really important work of chatting with clients.

‘Matching people up who have something in common is a really important part of my job as the volunteer co-ordinator.  We want there to be a spark so that the relationship can gel.  We do checks every few months with both parties and if it’s not working out then we withdraw the volunteer as quickly but as gently as possible to avoid hurt on either side.’

‘Part of the volunteer training is learning to cope if they are rejected.  A client may be desperately lonely but occasionally when it comes to it they don’t actually like having a stranger in their home.   The volunteer training also covers when you might need to bring in extra help and recognising the signs of dementia so that you can bring in the correct support for the client.  Some volunteers can request extra training and use the volunteer scheme as a way back into work in the care sector.’

Most of the clients will have carers coming who are responsible for washing, dressing and meals.  We support independence and our volunteers help the elderly to stay in their homes longer by improving their general wellbeing.  The visits alone can often lift depression for many people.  The focus of the week for many elderly people can be when the volunteer calls.

Age UK has 95 volunteers in Cambridgeshire

• Linda has 19 people on her waiting list whom she would like to match up with volunteers
• Age UK do an enhanced level CRB check on all volunteers
• Contact.  Linda the  volunteer organiser 01480 407680 Tuesday & Thursday 9am-2pm  or  07554 035662 Mon;Fri 10am-3pm

The many ways that you can become involved with Age UK.

• Activity Buddy (helping someone to become more physically active)
• Befriender (visiting someone who lives alone)
• Bereavement and loss visitor
• Events assistant
• Day centre helper (tasks could include serving meals to giving manicures)
• Driver
• Fundraiser
• Gardener
• Handyperson
• Information and advice worker
• IT coach
• Swimming monitor (helping at swimming classes)
• Trustee

Source data – Age UK

The names of the clients have been changed.

Volunteering takes many shapes and forms but Judith Margolis who I am meeting today is a real inspiration.  Whilst needing use of a wheelchair for much of her life she has forged a successful career as a university lecturer, learnt to fly and now she is retired she volunteers for the charity Disability Huntingdonshire.  DISH.

DISH is quite different to other charities that I have visited in the past.  Whilst many of their volunteers are able bodied the charity also incorporates many disabled volunteers into its’ organisation.

Cheryn with her support dog

Olly Cooper shows me around.  They occupy new offices which they moved into last summer on The Papworth Trust development.   ‘We are very much like a Citizens advice bureau which specialises in help for disabled people.  We run an advice line to which people can phone in or email.

Judith has been a volunteer for two years and comes in one day a week.  ‘I love getting up and getting dressed for work and after a day here I always come away feeling positive.’

‘I became involved because I used the DISH services. When I first started it just felt really good to be productive again.  I had stopped working six months before and I felt as though I was waiting to die.. and I got bored waiting.  It was so nice to be talking and helping people again’

Judith received all the training she needed on site.  ‘We use the Citizen Advice Bureau ‘Advisernet’ system so part of the training is learning how to use the databases to access the right information.

‘I started off by answering calls and emails here in the office but once I had built up my confidence I started to visit people in hospital who might need advice and prefer to talk to somebody about their problems face to face’.

Judith tells me that at the beginning of her time, she got some extra confidence from her close mentor Cheryn, but soon she was an asset to the organisation sorting peoples issues and researching solutions. ‘Part of the skill is knowing when you’re beat and don’t know the answer and just knowing when to tell the client that you will research it and come back to them’.

‘Sometimes the hospitals will call us an tell us that somebody would like a visit but we also have set days in hospitals where we have an information stand near the rehab department.  People will just come and ask us questions.  If the volunteer can’t answer the question on the spot then we take all their details and get back to them.’

It’s clear to me that Judith is getting as much out of the job as she puts into it.

‘The beauty of this job is that I learn something every time I come.  There is always somebody asking me a question which I don’t know the answer to and which I then research and come back to them’.

‘I’m not telling people what to do.  They have to make their own choices but I can help them to make those choices.’

Cheryn tells me that the training can in some cases lead to a change in lifestyle for some of the helpers

‘Some volunteers want to train toward the NVQ in Advice and Guidance which they can also do for free with DISH. Volunteering with DISH us can be a way back into work for people who need to learn new skills.’

She told me about one of the volunteers she trained, Louise.

‘She was really nervous when she started here.  She’s extremely competent and has a huge amount of knowledge from previous work. Her confidence had been severely hit because due to sickness she’d not worked for three years.  After two or three months working here  you could actually see her confidence. It soared. She really enjoys coming in but it did take time for her confidence to be rebuilt.  Helping other people really helped to boost Louise’s confidence.’

‘There are 5 part time staff but if their hours are all added together it relates to 2 full time staff.  We used to have 20 volunteers but we have lost a few recently so now we only have 10. We’re really looking to replace those volunteers.  The only skills you need to bring are listening and empathy. We can teach you the IT and everything else but you must be a good listener.’

At the moment DISH are looking for people to:

• Accompany advisers on home visits
• Train as advice workers (NVQ in Advice and Guidance, free)
• Carry out research activities
• Answer the phones and help in the office
• All travel expenses are covered for volunteers and those placed with DISH for work experience.  Volunteers are never left out of pocket.

Telephone Olly Cooper 01480 830833 or e-mail info@DISH.org.uk

Today I am visiting a volunteer scheme that can transform the lives of our children. It is a volunteer scheme to give support to children from an early age. This support can have a profound effect on the child’s future life, often transforming a child’s self esteem and completely changing their school learning experience.

I am visiting Crosshall School in St Neots which regularly achieves the Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ award. Like many other schools in the area Crosshall offers one to one and small group reading classes staffed by volunteers who are trained on site by the school.

Even in 2012 it’s a disturbing fact that many children leave school without being able to read. Some figures put it as high as one in five leaving primary schools without adequate literacy skills. The impact of illiteracy on a child’s life is catastrophic. Providing help and support in reading at an early age means that a child is able to take advantage of the full range of education on offer throughout the rest of their school life. Without this help children who do fall behind on literacy are more likely to end up in trouble in other areas. In the worst cases a child who cannot read becomes an adult who cannot read, leading to tremendous difficulties in getting a job and navigating everyday life. Continue reading →

Surprisingly it was amidst the confusion of war, that the Citizens’ Advice Bureau was born. Four days after Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, the CAB was setup to help people trace missing servicemen and re-house families bombed out of their homes. Now it is  an important organization within our community that helps people navigate the minefield of government departments and the law.

I am warmly greeted by Sarah Bellows who is the volunteer manager

As I arrive at the offices in All Saints Passage, Huntingdon I am warmly greeted by Sarah Bellows who is the volunteer manager.

Sarah is interviewing today for Gateway Assessors who are the first point of contact for clients. Their main task is to identify the nature of the client’s problem. ‘Often we can help people just by giving them some information. We can often empower people to help themselves but if their problem is more complicated then they will be passed to a fully trained experienced advisor. At this stage the Gateway advisor will make sure that the qualified advisor has a full brief of the situation before their meeting with the client so that they can prepare.’ Continue reading →

Amanda Norton was just looking around a local event in Huntingdon with her husband and son when she stopped to chat with the volunteer from St John Ambulance.   Months later that small incident saved her daughter’s life as from there she became a St John ambulance first aider.

LIFE CHANGING: Amanda Norton whose St John training helped save her daughter’s life.

“The second course I took focused on baby and child care; my daughter went blue on me three times in her first year. If I hadn’t learnt the basic recovery position for a baby she wouldn’t have kept breathing long enough to get to the specialist medical care at the hospital and I don’t think she would be here now.’

This month I have been to visit St John Ambulance HQ in Huntingdon to meet Amanda and her ‘St John Family’.   Emma Randall another volunteer tells me, ‘There’s a great camaraderie here between the volunteers.  We often find that one member of a family joins and then the children become involved with the badgers (5-10 year olds) or the cadets (10-17 year olds).  We’ve also had several St John weddings between people who have met through volunteering at St John Ambulance.’ Continue reading →

This is the second in a series of articles that I am writing for The Hunts Post promoting heroic volunteers in our area who give up their time. I want to tell their story of what they do and what they have achieved by volunteering.

Each year I buy a poppy and wear it with pride. But the truth is, beyond a vague idea of ‘helping soldiers’ I don’t really know how the money raised is actually spent. This year, I have decided to find out.

With Ricky and Kerry Snell and their daughter Lisa

I went to the Royal British Legion office in St Neots where I was introduced to Ricky Snell and his pregnant wife Kerry. Between them was their adorable two year old, Lisa. It was all smiles and they were a delight to meet, but their story was heartbreaking.  Just two months ago they were living together cooped up in a damp bungalow in the fens. They believed the boiler was giving off poisonous gas, but as soon as they complained, they were handed an eviction notice by their landlord. They had no money and nowhere to go.

Ricky served his country in the Royal Navy, on board HMS Ark Royal. He had a tough time, the subject of bullying, but he maintains he would do it again in a snap.

We have to ask ourselves is this any way to treat those we ask to protect us?

Facing homelessness and only an offer of hotel accommodation from the council, the Royal British Legion stepped in. Ricky and Kerry were re-located to a dry and safe house which they love. Both of them work to help others as carers and now want to train as volunteers for The Royal British legion themselves now.  To help others as they have been helped.   Ricky knows the importance of the RBL’s intervention. “If it weren’t for The Royal British Legion we’d be homeless right now”.   From the potentially toxic flat, amid arguments and the disarray of their lives, they now feel settled.   As Kerry put it to me “Our relationship now is stronger than ever.  They can’t separate us any more. The Royal British Legion has changed our lives”.

Continue reading →