Making A Difference Volunteer Update

As some of you local to St Albans and the surrounding area may already know, the exciting and vibrant festival will be making its return on Saturday 22 June. 

If you haven't attended the Alban Day event before, you can find out more and learn what to expect here. 

Communities 1st will be taking part during the festival and we are looking for some help from you. Below, you can see a timetable that we have created to outline at what stages throughout the day we are looking for some support. Please feel free to use this as a guide to check your availability. Of course you are welcome to stay for as long as you would like to support the event. If you would like to find it more you can give us a call or send an email. 

Saturday 22 June 2024

• Between 8am to 11am - Come along to support the Communities 1st team with preparing for the exciting day ahead at the Vintry Gardens. 
• Between 10:30am to 12pm - Help out along the procession route to help people find their way.
• Between 12pm to 5pm - Help across the various check points to offer additional support to visitors of the festival and procession.
• Between 5pm to 7pm - Stick around to help the Communities 1st team put all of their supplies away, ready for the next exciting event. 

If you are available and would like to come along to support Communities 1st throughout the event, please do get in touch.

You can give a member of the team a call here. You can also send us an email and let us know what activities you would like to help with here. If you happen to be passing by on the day, please do stop by and say hello, we hope to see you there. 

You can also register to the event below to let our team know that you would like to come along. 

Supporting and engaging with the local community is very important to Communities 1st and what we do. That is why we like to attend local events as an opportunity to meet new people and reach those who may need support.

Below you will find a list of up coming events in the local area and we would like to invite you a long to take part. If you would like to attend as a helping hand and support Communities 1st in any of these events please get in touch with us below. You can also contact us if you have any questions about the events.

If you happen to be attending any of the events below, please feel free to come along!

• Harpenden Health & Wellbeing Fair - Saturday 22 June 10am to 2pm - Harpenden.
• Bushey Rose Garden - Saturday 29 June 2:30pm to 5:45pm - Bushey.
• Festival In The Park - Sunday 7 July - King George Recreation Ground, time to be confirmed. 
• The Cottonmill Gathering - Sunday 14 July 11am to 4pm - St Albans.
• Hatfield Community Fair - Tuesday 13 August 11am to 3pm - Hatfield. 

If you have any questions or would like to find out more you can give us a call or feel free to send us an email.

Communities 1st will be hosting its Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 16 July and we would like to invite you to come along. 

What can you expect? 

You will have the opportunity to catch up with the Communities 1st team about the latest volunteering opportunities in your local area and share your experiences with other volunteers too. 

You can also meet with other member organisations and listen in on interesting presentations.

To find out more about our AGM conference, you can visit our website below. We look forward to seeing you there. 

If you didn't get the chance to read our latest case study, you can take a look below. With the help of our committed volunteers, Communities 1st is able to deliver services and support to lots of people with in our local community every week! 

We think that it is important for us to share some of the amazing successful support cases with you, to see how much your volunteering helps to support people in your local community who need it most.

Brenda originally came to Communities 1st as she needed some support in getting her shopping every week. The door to door shopper bus service meant that Brenda was able to get to and from the shops without having to worry about waiting for public transport and carrying heavy bags. Brenda continued to use the shopper bus on a weekly basis, and became a regular and friendly face on the bus that our volunteer drivers looked forward to meeting with each week.

Brenda had to make the decision to stop using the shopper bus for personal health reasons and the fact that she was no longer able to come along on the regular outings was not an easy decision to make for her.

To ensure that Brenda could continue to see the friends she had made on the shopper bus trips and ensure that she did not become socially isolated, Communities 1st invited her along to her local Creative Community Café. It was here that Brenda was able to socialise with friends, Volunteers and Communities 1st members of staff, all whilst ensuring that she was putting her health first.

Thanks to our committed and generous volunteers, we were also able to ensure that we could assist Brenda with her shopping on a weekly basis. This meant that Brenda was still able to keep in touch with her regular friendly volunteer drivers that she had gotten to know so well over the years of using the service.

Communities 1st continues to keep in touch with Brenda by making regular calls and through her friends who continue to use the shopper bus and keep in touch.

Thanks to the continued help and support from our volunteers, Communities 1st is proud to deliver help to lots of people like Brenda through the use of our different services. We are also grateful that our services allow us to connect with people in the community like Brenda and help to promote positive wellbeing and independence. 

(No real names are used in this case study to protect the privacy of those involved.) 

How can I get involved? 

If you are looking to make an impact in your local community and want to support people like Brenda, there are many ways you can take part. By visiting our website, you can search through all of our volunteering opportunities and find one that you are most interested in. 

You can also give us a call and have a chat with a member of the Communities 1st team to discuss what projects and opportunities are in your local area. 

You can check out the Action For Happiness website for more resources and inspiration here.

Your Dashboard is the hub of all things volunteering. Access your Dashboard to:

• Sign up for volunteering opportunities, shifts and events
• Feedback on volunteering you have done
• Submit expense claims

Thank you for reading this newsletter. If you'd like to speak to us please call 01727 649900 or email help@communities1st.org.uk.

You can also follow us on social media.