‘I love getting up and getting dressed for work and after a day here I always come away feeling positive.’

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