Local Charity in call for more volunteers

Due to the huge success of various new initiatives, local charity Age UK Cheshire East is looking to recruit more volunteers to help it deliver services supporting older people.

Since the start of lockdown, the charity has worked hard to provide support to older people, albeit in a different way than previously, due to restrictions around face-to-face contact. One of the key successes has been its new befriending service ‘Keep in Touch’. Volunteers make weekly calls from home to older people, who may not have much contact with other people but who really value a regular, friendly chat.  The service currently supports 50 local older people, helped by 15 volunteers, but as the service grows, more volunteers are now sought.

Diana Goodger, from Wilmslow, a volunteer on Keep in Touch says “To help someone is the greatest thing you can do and the calls have become so important to them that it makes me feel amazing.  I am in awe of some of the people I call each week, more people should do it, because it really does make you feel great"

As well as Keep in Touch, the charity is seeking volunteers to help out at its new furniture store in Macclesfield, helping serve customers and provide general support around the store.  Great experience for someone looking at a career in retail and for those who want to be in a public facing role whilst supporting the charity raise vital funds for its services.

The charity is also seeking volunteers to help support its new Older Persons Scams Awareness Project, linking the project to local community groups.

Damon Taylor, Chief Executive of the charity said “Volunteers are vital to enable us to deliver these really important services for older people. The roles we have developed are both rewarding and flexible and we would love to hear from anyone who has from as little as half an hour to a full day available each week.”

Age UK Cheshire East is currently supporting over 400 older people each week through its wide range of services.

Our charity’s mission is to ‘improve later life for people in Cheshire East’. In 2018, it celebrated its 30^th anniversary, having provided help and support to many thousands of older people in Cheshire East since its formation back in 1988.

For more information, please contact Age UK Cheshire East on 01625 612958, go to www.ageukce.org

The photograph shows Diane Goodger, a volunteer from Wilmslow on our Keep in Touch befriending service. The befriending scheme, part funded by Cheshire Community Foundation, is aimed at any local older person who may benefit from a regular call.