Lorraine from our Help at Home service writes: Change is always difficult: we might say, ‘I don’t mind change.. ‘ I welcome change’… but secretly, we are nervous of the unknown.
My volunteer pool has grown over the past couple of months as we have changed the way our Help at home service is delivered. However, change has brought with it new conversations, not least from volunteers I knew as a name, but hadn’t previously spoken to.
Those of you that know me, know I love a chat and I love an accent, so imagine my pleasure when I spoke to one of our volunteers with a soft Scottish accent and a wonderful story she shared with me.
This lovely lady was very pleased to hear from me, and I could hear the smile in her voice as she said ‘ well I do enjoy helping with those little things…’
We chatted briefly about Christmas and the weather, and she told me that she had been away on a cruise. During her holiday she had visited the ship’s laundry room and met a lady doing her ironing. They shared the usual pleasantries about the ship and the trip so far and how, no matter where you are, chores still need to be done.
‘Oh I hate ironing’, said the lady
‘Really? I love it. In fact I like it so much I work for charity and have helped people who can’t manage household tasks for themselves, ironing being one of them.’
‘So where do you live?’ said the woman
‘Cambridgeshire’ said our volunteer.
‘Whereabouts exactly?’ enquired the woman further.
‘Oh a little village near Peterborough’ said our volunteer.
‘And the charity? What’s the name of the Charity?’
‘Oh you probably have never heard of them, they are called Care Network,’ said our lovely volunteer with pride!
‘I live in that area,’ said the woman ‘and you came to my house three years ago to do just that when I broke my arm!’
The volunteer went on to say that it was in that moment she realised how much she was needed and so she was very glad when I called with details of someone else she could help.
So for me, talking to the volunteers who deliver our service is an absolute pleasure and reminds me why and how we do what we do. I hope that with all the volunteer events planned for 2020 that I get to meet and thank more of our wonderful volunteers. These selfless people pay it forward in the name of Care Network every day and I, for one, am very grateful for their time and efforts.
Thank you LW for sharing your story and your heart with our communities.