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Winter 2013 Free Newsletter
Building Communities Through Volunteering
Memory Loss? By 2021 it is thought that a million people will be af-fected by Dementia. Find out more about our memory loss cafe Déjà Vu which caters for those with concerns about their memory or forgetful-ness. p 6
Older People and Volunteering We look at the dedication of the over 50s . 1 in 5 now vol-unteer for more than 3 charities
p2
Join our 100 club and win
big! Funding win for
Volunteer Transport
Volunteers earlier in the year at one of our annual beach cleans.
Contents: Editors Note: Welcome to our new newsletter, we hope you like the new format and find the content interesting and informative. Do let us know what you think! We hope the revamped newsletter will provide a forum for volunteer-using organisations within the Shepway district to advertise their opportunities as well as being of interest to current volunteers and prospective volunteers. As always we’ve had a busy quarter with lots of volunteer enquiries. We were very excited to be announced as one of Mayor Roger West’s Charities of the year and have par-taken in some of the fundraising activities, all of which were great fun. We were also very pleased to be selected as one of the four Lloyds bank community fund organisations in Folkestone and are in the running to win £3000, please do give us your support either in the Sandgate Rd Branch, by voting online: https://communityfund.lloydsbank.com/voting/cf_org_vote_profile.asp?cfr=98AD49 or by texting VOTE MWTA to 61119.
Ed.
Older People and Volunteering New research from the Royal Voluntary Service shows that over two mil-
lion people over the age of 60 spend time volunteering for at least two
charities. Far from relaxing during their retirement 46% of older people
chose to volunteer, the results showing that many volunteer for multiple
charities as it provides structure to their week and a chance to provide a
meaningful contribution to society. While the gender split is noticeable
with women more likely to volunteer for children’s charities and lunch
clubs and men more likely to volunteer with sports related clubs and
health charities, 83% of all volunteers do so because they believe the
work of the charity is important.
Studies have highlighted the benefits volunteering brings to older people,
including the opportunity to meet new people, learn new skills and improve physical and mental wellbe-
ing. However, a small number volunteer to get away from their husband,
wife or partners, with 3% saying that being 'fed up with a spouse' made
them get out to do charity work!
With the rising the retirement age, many charities are worried what the
future may hold in regards to their traditional pool of dedicated post re-
tirement age volunteers. Are you aged 60 +, do you volunteer for one or
more charity? What do you think the future holds? Get in touch and let
us know.
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Older People and Volunteering Funding for Community Transport
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Volunteering Opportunities Volunteer Thank You Party
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100 Club Charity Spotlight Task Force
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Volunteering Opportunities Centre Club
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Kent Adult Education Response Memory Loss
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Need a Friend Quick Quiz Why we volunteer Dates for the diary
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Funding for Community Transport Scheme
The Volunteer Centre was delighted in September when funding was confirmed from Kent County Council for the next three years of our Community Transport Service. The local authority’s renewed commitment to the service demonstrates the scheme’s value and need locally, especially in the tough economic climate and with cuts to Hospital Transport. The funding given to 7 Volunteer Centres around Kent will allow the Volunteer Transport Service to update its computer systems and has allowed us to extend our opening hours in the afternoon from 1pm to 3pm. If you are interested in finding out more about the Community Transport Service you can ring 01303 253339 or email Donna on [email protected] The booking line is open Mon—Fri 10.00—15.00.
Volunteering Opportunities: United Response are looking for volunteer fundraising assistants to help with applica-tions to charitable trusts. Knowledge of fundraising desirable. Interested in Music? Making Music are looking for a Volunteer Membership De-velopment Officer who will be responsible for welcoming new members. Want to make a difference in a local school? How about becoming a School Governor? Kent Probation Area Mentor Unit are looking for a variety of volunteers includ-ing volunteer mentors, all training pro-vided. Interested in gaining admin skills? Rela-tionship Health Counselling in Folkestone are looking for an admin volunteer.
The Young Lives Foundation is a Kent based charity working with vulnerable and looked after chil-dren. In 2012, YLF’s volunteers gave
over 10,000 voluntary hours, enabling them to support more young people and families through their mentor-ing programmes and appropriate adult service, ensur-ing they continue to make a difference to the lives of young people in Kent. Demand for their support services continues to grow and with the launch of up to three new projects ex-pected this side of Christmas they are looking to add to their volunteer workforce. If you feel you could sup-port a young person and have time to give get in con-tact or to find out more visit: ylf.org.uk/get-involved/volunteers or ring the Volun-teer Centre on 01303 259007.
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Volunteer Centre Managers from Swale, Shepway and Ashford
Play our 100 Club Lottery and win money while raising essential funds...
By playing our 100 club you help support the Volunteer Centre and its community projects. From just £1 per month you can win up to 25% of the monthly pool. The more who join the bigger the prizes! Half of the amount raised through the 100 club will go towards prizes, while the other half goes towards helping our Befriend-ing Scheme, Transport Service, Gardening Project, Centre or Déjà Vu Clubs. If you’re interested in finding out more, get in contact and we’ll send you a membership form. Anyone connected to the Volun-teer Centre can join, including member organisations, volun-teers and transport clients. A single subscription is £1a month and you can have as many subscriptions as you want! For more information contact the office on 01303 259007 or [email protected]
Transport
Shepway Volunteer Centre runs an afford-able transport service for people who are unable to use public transport because they are elderly, frail, infirm, partially sighted or similarly disabled, to enable them to travel to hospital/ doctors’ ap-pointments, clinics, opticians or to visit family in hospital or make essential shopping trips. The service has had a busy year with over 8000 journey’s being carried out to more than 700 dif-ferent clients. To provide this important service we rely on volun-teer drivers using their own cars, for which they are paid expenses to cover their costs. We now have 60 volunteer drivers but with cuts to hospital transport we expect the need for the service to rise exponentially. Enjoy driving? Get in touch! The commitment of time is up to the driver. Contact Donna on 01303 253339 [email protected]
Want to Advertise your Business?
Get in touch now
Quarter page, half page and full page ads available.
01303 259007
Health and Safety Elf Every organisation, large or small, commercial or volun-tary, must have a competent person to take responsibility for assessing health & safety risk and putting measures in place to minimise that risk.
Now help is at hand. Shepway Volunteer Centre can offer you the services of a competent person – a Safety Elf with all the necessary skills, knowledge and ex-perience ready and waiting to help you with your health and safety require-ments.
Now that is something to laugh about! For more information, call now on 01303
259007 and ask for Janet Johnson
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Charity under the Spotlight: CROP Citizen’s Rights for Older People
CROP provides, through a team of volunteers, a free domiciliary advocacy service for elderly people to en-able them to make informed decisions in order to achieve their rights and entitlements. It also helps them deal with situations which require intervention to solve a problem which is adversely affecting their life.
As an older person do you need help to make a complaint?
Are you unsure about making a fuss about poor service?
Have you suffered an injustice at the hands of cen-tral or local government?
Can you negotiate satisfactory care services for yourself?
Do you need help filling in benefit forms?
Is your landlord keeping to his tenancy agree-ment?
There is no need to suffer in silence. Get in touch and see if CROP can help.
Alternatively, are you interested in helping older peo-
ple? CROP is mostly run by volunteers and help is needed to run the service with a variety of roles avail-
able. If you can spare a few hours a week contact CROP on 01622 851200, alternatively contact the
Volunteer Centre on 01303 259007
Task Force Task Force provides a gardening service to elderly or disabled Shepway residents who can no longer look after or maintain their gardens. Task Force consists of volunteers who themselves need some support because of learning difficulties or mental ill health. They work in teams under the supervi-sion of a coordinator. Last year they made over 450 visits and helped over 70 vulnerable/ disabled members of the community with their gardens . If you are inter-
ested in helping to support Task Force get in touch on [email protected].
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Case Studies Rita Shaw is sitting in an elderly person's home. She has been moved from a single room, which she liked, into a room which she has to share with another woman who is senile. She thinks the own-ers are in breach of their contract with her but she does not know how to make the owners keep to it. Her family is too far away from the home to help her.
George Howard has been advised to apply for Attendance Allow-ance. He has received the form and finds it very daunting. He knows the benefit will be invalu-able but needs help filling in the form.
Mary Joseph is a widow aged 72 living on her own. She is finding it extremely difficult to survive in her own home. She is not happy with some elements in the care plan being offered by Social Ser-vices but does not feel able to ar-gue her own case effectively.
Sudoku Challenge Solution
Volunteering Opportunities Like working with older people? Why not volunteer to become an Activities Helper at MHA in Grace Court. Interested in giving advice? Citizens Advice Bureau are looking for volun-teers to be trained up as advisors. Know your nursery rhymes? Why not volunteer to become a baby rhyme time host at your local library. Like working outdoors? The White Cliffs Countryside Partnership hold regular volunteer conservation days involving a variety of tasks, for exam-ple scrub clearing, pond cleaning, cop-picing etc. Are you a good listener? Could you support a victim of crime? Why not volunteer with Victim Support? Love football? Hawkinge Football club are looking for coaches for their youth team. Interested in marketing? Kent Wildlife Trust are looking for volunteer from helping in the office, doing mail shots, to dressing up in a badger costume at an event! Want to support young asylum seekers in developing social networks, access-ing health resources and learning and employment opportunities? Volunteer with Barnardos in Folkestone. Enjoy listening to children read? Why not become a Volunteer Reading Helper with children in schools. For more info on any of these opportu-nities get in touch!
Kent Adult Education Response
Are you unemployed or on a low income? Improve your work or volunteering
opportunities. Many of us have been there. Possibly you have been made redundant, or maybe you've been out of work for a while and finding it hard to get back in. We can help! Response offers short courses aimed specifically at those who are unemployed or on a low income. The courses are designed to bring back confidence and help set you on the path to better paid work or further learning. Volunteering is a great way of developing your skills and confi-dence. A course with Response can really improve your chances of successful volunteering and potentially securing paid employment at a later date if that is your aim. Types of courses on offer include: Food Safety in Catering Health and Safety in the Workplace First Aid And the best part? These courses are fully funded meaning they are free for you to join. For more information contact the Volunteer Centre on 01303 259007.
Centre Club
Our centre club has been going strong for thirteen years now, providing a range of activities and social events for older peo-ple within the com-munity. We have around 28 members and more are always welcome. Over the last quarter we have taken a trip to Aylesford Priory, had craft tasters, played bingo and competed in many quizzes!
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Centre Club is a social club for anyone who feels isolated or in need of companionship, and started as an off-shoot of the Befriending service in 2000.
It takes place a couple of times a month on a Friday morn-ing and membership is £5 for 3 months. There’s a variety of events, including talks, musical mornings, fitness for fun, craft demonstrations and there's usually a quiz and a raf-fle. Please contact 01303 259007 for further information.
Memory loss?
Do you know someone suffering with memory loss? The latest figures suggest there are some 800,000 peo-ple with dementia in the UK with numbers set to rise to over 1 million by 2021. This is expected to soar to 1.7 million by 2050. Furthermore, according to the latest research published by the Alzheimer's society
only 47 % of people with dementia feel part of their community and 35 % of people only go out once a week or less. Memory Cafes allow those who are suffering from memory loss or who have recently been diagnosed with Alzheimer's an informal opportunity to meet up and access information and advice alongside their carers, families and healthcare professionals.
At Shepway Volunteer Centre we run our own memory cafe—Déjà-Vu. Running every other Friday morning, the cafe provides a welcoming environment, refreshments and games, while trained volunteers and health-care professionals are on hand to answer any questions. For more information please contact Mark on 01303 259700 or email: [email protected]
Need a friend? Did you know that loneliness can be as harmful to your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day? De-spite the increasingly connected world , 1 in 10 people aged 65 and over say they are always or often feel lonely. At Shepway Volunteer Centre we run a befriending service which provides friendly support for older or disabled people who may find they are lonely through ill health, being housebound or isolated; whether socially or geographically. We aim to match you up with a carefully checked, friendly volunteer who will visit once a week for a cup of tea and a chat, share news and maybe play a game or look at the newspaper together. Our Befriending Volunteers are police (DBS) checked.
They are also supported and supervised by the Coor-dinator and are offered regular training. Befrienders are there to lend a listening ear and perhaps enable you to find out about other services that may be of benefit to you. Befrienders are not able to undertake any household chores, shopping, personal care or lifting, nor should they be asked to. There is always a waiting list for this service, but please don't let that put you off making an enquiry. Our Befriending service is free to access, but as a reg-istered charity we always welcome donations. A gift aid form can be provided on request, as will maximise the amount of your kind donation. If you fit the criteria to benefit from our service and are interested in having a Befriending Volunteer, please call us and the Befriending Coordinator, will make an appointment to visit and discuss your needs and whether we are able to find a Befriending Volun-teer for you.
If you would like to find out more info please get in touch on 01303 259007.
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35 % of people with dementia want more care and support. (Alzheimer's Society,
Sudoku Challenge
Solution p5
Quick Quiz
1. In Medieval England rents were frequently cal-
culated and paid in the dried berries of which
condiment?
2. Who married 89-year old J Howard Marshall II in
1995?
3. From which country does the drink Stella Artois
originate?
4. What is the name of water that collects in the
bottom of a boat?
5. Of which nation did George W Bush once say
“their problem is, they don't have a word for
entrepreneur”?
6. Which breed of cats, rabbits, and goats have the
same name?
7. In 2003 who became the first Russian act to
have a No 1 single in the UK?
8. Dove Cottage, the home of William Words-
worth, is in which village?
9. In historical military or political terms, what is
“Conshie” short for?
10. What are the four corner Squares on an English
Monopoly Board?
8
1. Peppercorns , 2. Anna Nicole Smith, 3. Belgium, 4.
Bilge, 5. The French, 6. Angora, 7. Tatu, 8. Grasmere,
9. Conscientious objector, 10. Go, Jail( Just Visiting)
Free Parking, Go to Jail
Quiz Answers
What volunteering means to us!
‘It’s given me a chance to try new things and experi-ence areas that I simply wouldn't have had the op-portunity to through paid work.’ ‘Volunteering has built my confidence up, before I struggled to talk to people but now I’m happy to chat away.’ ‘Volunteering keeps me busy and gives me a sense of purpose.’ ‘Volunteering changed my life, without it I wouldn't have the great job I have today.’ ‘It makes me feel like I’m making a difference’. ‘I can put it on my CV and the place I’m volunteering for has been great at putting me on training courses.’
Dates for the diary: 1st Nov—Sing for Samaritans, Leas Cliff Hall 3rd Nov—End of Season Parade RHDR 10th Nov—Remembrance Sunday, The War Memo-rial, The Leas 16th Nov—Bouverie Place Christmas Family Fun Day 15th—24th Nov—Folkestone Book Festival 23rd Nov—Christmas Fair, Age UK, Hythe, Stade Street, Hythe 1st Dec—Indoor Boot Fair, Capel le Ferne Village Hall 19th Dec—Shepway Volunteer Centre’s Volunteers Thank you Party
