Volunteer story from 2006 -2020
My volunteer story from 2006-2020 by Jacinta
The early years
I moved to Hammersmith and Fulham in the 1990s. Voluntary work in the community seemed a good option as I felt lonely and a little lost in London. During a visit to Charing Cross hospital I noticed a poster looking for volunteers. On application I ended up as part of the lovely Cocktail Crew. This group later went on to be one of the winners of the Queen’s Jubilee awards for Voluntary Work in 2004. At the presentation lunch, I had the honour of delivering a “Thank you” speech to the Lord Lieutenant, Colonel Holland, on behalf of the team as well as accepting the glass award presented to the Trust. I think this can still be seen in the entrance hall of the hospital.
First Volunteer role
Later I began looking at other volunteer notices at the hospital for ideas to broaden my experience and in 2006 I was accepted as a volunteer with the Home from Hospital Project and given a great Induction training. I was allocated a delightful gentleman who happened to be in Charing Cross at that time so I was able to combine both voluntary roles for a couple of weeks. Sadly, he subsequently died before I actually got to visit him in his own home. But once again getting to know him was a privilege and a great experience in more ways than one!
The next project I got involved with was The Walking Project. My client turned out to be an amazing lady called Joan, who sadly hadn’t been out of her small tower block flat for 3 years after an accident. With a combination of bribery by her favourite M&S prawn cocktail sandwiches and regular meetings with a local resident’s ferocious looking but good natured pit bull, we finally got her out and about locally.
In 2007 I had to take a break from volunteering with another BCH volunteer taking Joan on her walks but I kept in touch with her on my visits back home and after she sadly had to go into a Care Home. What happened to her before that was truly amazing: Joan went on to be one of 'The Zimmers'... https://youtu.be/zqfFrCUrEbY'
Joan is the one in the video with the dark glasses and the sign saying “I’ve not left my flat in three years”. This all evolved from the BBC three part series called Power to the People presented by Tim Samuels. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/power_to_the_people/6615695.stm
BCH offer variety of opportunities
Through “The Visiting Service” I gained a better understanding of the needs and problems experienced by older people and the challenges presented to their families too.
In 2010 it meant a lot to me to be nominated by BCH for a Hammersmith and Fulham Volunteer Centre award for my involvement with project.
I really enjoyed some of the BCH outings too like the trip to the Reminiscence Centre and of course Homeline’s excellent training sessions. My husband and I would help out in the school holidays with Homeline telephone befriending and I had a lovely time chatting with clients. Obviously it wasn’t computerised then so I had all day to complete my lists!
In 2010 I moved home and sadly found it difficult to combine the commuting and an even busier work life with the amount of commitment I wanted to give to BCH so I had to leave. But there is no doubt in my mind that my time with you gave me so much and the memories will stay with me forever.
2010- 2020
Between 2010 and the present my life has changed immensely but volunteering has always been high on my priorities. Since 2012 I have been a committee member for the Twickenham, Teddington and District fundraising branch of the RNLI.
COVID brought an abrupt end to my job as a tour guide with Syon House and so it was a good opportunity to get back to Bishop Creighton House. HOMELINE telephone befriending being an obvious service I’d be able to do from home.
May 2020 back volunteering with HOMELINE
Homeline accepted me back and I started making HOMELINE telephone befriending calls from home. I look forward to getting more involved when normality returns.
In September my husband fulfilled one of his dreams and bought a MotorHome so we started our travels which ended up as a 9 week adventure! The trip of 2200 miles took us to Northumberland, the West coast of Scotland, 3 weeks exploring all of the islands of the Outer Hebrides. Returning to the mainland, we toured more of the West and East coast of Scotland before visiting the Lake District and going east again to Norfolk and staying on the Queen Sandringham estate. Our Grand Tour then took us to Windsor and finally Chertsey before the lockdown led us home...Needless to say I didn’t want to give up on my Monday and Friday HOMELINE calls so I dug out one of my very old mobile phones, got an amazingly cheap Giffgaff sim and had faith in the Myfi box to let me use my Apple IPad mini! Pleased to say ...it worked really well even in the most remote locations and I only had to ask for help on two occasions...thank you to a volunteer who covered for me!
It just goes to prove how easy volunteering can be in the digital age! My HOMELINE calls keep me very “grounded” at the moment and help me stay positive ... chats with clients are of immense help to me and an inspiration in many ways.
Jacinta Cook