Volunteer Case Studies

Date of Birth:
N/A

Before becoming involved at the Dengie Project Trust, I had never volunteered before. Having run a business for 20 years, I was looking for a new interest that had nothing to do with work and that would be sociable (my only two criteria).

The minute I walked into Knightswood I knew it was the right place (probably helped by the smell of hot toast wafting around ! ).

My typical day is to arrive about 1100 and join the clients for toast and coffee. We then usually do a creative activity such as art or cake baking, accompanied by a lot of chat. After a hot lunch we gather in the lounge for a quiz, or sing-along or sometimes a board game and the day finishes with tea and biscuits about 3.45.

I really look forward to my day at Knightswood and seeing the regular clients who you start to get very fond of. I find it very relaxing and feel I have built up a good relationship with the clients and staff. I spend a lot of time smiling or laughing, some of the clients have a great sense of humour or they're just plain batty and the fact that they seem to they enjoy being there too, all helps with the lovely atmosphere at Knightswood.

Date of Birth:
04/12/35

Mrs E is a retired widow who has been a resident in Burnham for the past year, previous to this she lived in Suffolk. She moved to Essex to be closer to members of her family but occasionally still finds herself fairly lonely and so looked to volunteer with RUSTIC to develop her network of friends and also to help support and develop the services in her local community. When moving to Essex she had been convinced to sell her car but then found the local transport infrastructure fairly limited, fortunately she is in good health and is able to manage with the shops in Burnham and travel to local towns such as Maldon and Chelmsford for larger shopping.

Mrs E found out about volunteering with RUSTIC through a display advertised within our local Community and Tourist Information Centre, she is happy to undertake various volunteering tasks on behalf of RUSTIC clients and is also willing to undertake training courses including a forthcoming Food Hygiene course.

Mrs E retired approximately 1 year ago before relocating to Essex and worked as a Catering Assistant in a college for many years. Previous to this she had worked as a market researcher and also worked for a short period in her local hospital. She fully understands the RUSTIC principle of ‘doing with’ not ‘doing for’ and wishes to be an active member of our team helping to promote independence amongst older people and support daily living tasks.

Case Study 3
Mrs B from Burnham

Date of Birth:
15/09/45

Date of Recruitment: 05/08/02

Mrs B is a local lady born on the Dengie Peninsular and is married with children and grandchildren and lives in Burnham on Crouch.. Mrs B heard about volunteering opportunities with RUSTIC through voluntary work already being undertaken with the Dengie Project Trust in their Day Centre. Mrs B also volunteers at St Clares Hospice where she undertakes various driving and caring duties.

Mrs B’s objectives as a RUSTIC volunteer are to assist and offer support to the RUSTIC team with their office and administration work. She is happy to undertake all tasks related to the office and is keen to learn more about the developments of the local Intermediate Care Team through having close links with them herself through incidents within her family.

Case Study 4
Mrs A from Burnham

Date of Birth:
01/01/46

Date of Recruitment: 10/06/02

Mrs A is a local lady to the Dengie Peninsular and is married with a grown up family. Mrs A heard about volunteering opportunities with RUSTIC through the Burnham Community Information Centre. Previous to becoming a RUSTIC volunteer Mrs A and her colleague had operated Burnham Community Care between them, which was an informal support network for older people.

Mrs A’s objectives as a RUSTIC volunteer are to promote independence and support daily living for older people referred to the RUSTIC team. Tasks she is happy to undertake include, shopping, cleaning, cooking, pension and prescription collecting etc.