Making A Difference Volunteer Update

Our gift wrapping event went ahead this week, and thanks to all your help, we have now finished wrapping all the gifts we are going to be handing out in the community. 

Fuelled by hot chocolates and biscuits, our volunteers prepared a whopping 84 presents to hand out to members of the community in just 3 hours! Well done everyone!

If you are interested in doing some Christmas volunteering this year and would like to spread some joy, there is still time to sign up with us to conduct door step visits to those who would like them. This would include going to the client's house, having a chat with them at their door, and then handing them one of the gifts we have prepared for them. We are hoping to reduce social isolation while also bringing a smile to as many people's faces as we can. 

If you would like to know more, please email us or call us on 01727 649900.

Communities 1st is launching Let’s Give, a new service for volunteers. You will be able to create your own space on our website, so that organisations can find out about you and reach out about their volunteering roles.

You won’t need to display any personal contact information as we will do all the brokerage, so we will put you in touch with the organisations that have reached out for you.

It’s a great way to showcase your skills and experience to local community groups, and can help match you with a role where you can make a real difference.

For more information contact us by email or call 01727 649953.

To say thank you for all your hard work this year, we are planning three Christmas Get-together events between staff and volunteers.

This will be a fantastic opportunity to meet up with the communities 1st team before the end of the year, and will allow us to thank you for all the hard work you do. You have all worked so hard this year to help us deliver our services throughout our communities, and we would love to show you our gratitude. 

Tuesday 6th December

Location: Phillimore Community, Phillimore Pl, Radlett WD7 8NN
Register here to join.

Wednesday 7 December

Location: Beaumont Day Centre, 6 Rowlandsfields, Turners Hill, Cheshunt, Waltham Cross EN8 9BG
Register here to join.

Thursday 8 December 

Location: Trestle Arts Base, Russet Dr, St Albans AL4 0JQ
Register here to join.

We will have more information to come soon, but we can't wait to see you all there.

We have a few hot desks in our office, which we would like to make available for anyone to book for free. 

If you work from home, and would like an office space during your work hours sometimes, please reach out to us and book one of our desks. 

You can book these desks by calling 01727 649900 or sending us an email. To find out more, please follow this link.

We are looking for a few meeting facilitators to help us conduct our Ukrainian Peer to Peer support meetings at St Albans Library and Phillimore Community Centre in Radlett.  

If you are interested in helping out at these events, or would like to know more, please call 01727 649970, or email us.. 

We are now running a warm hub in Organ Hall Community Centre in Borehamwood every Friday from 10am to 4pm, at Phillimore Court in Radlett every Tuesday between 12pm and 4pm, and in Aberford Community Centre in Borehamwood every Wednesday between 12pm and 4pm.

Our Warm Hubs project will provide free sessions for people to attend from November until March, where people can get involved in activities such as knitting, crafts, cooking and more. Furthermore, there will be the opportunity for attendees to get helpful information, guidance and advice from volunteers who we will train as 'energy agents'. 

With the current Cost-Of-Living crisis, it is our hope that these hubs will become a place of respite for anyone struggling this Autumn and Winter, but also a place to make friends, socialise and get stuck in to activities.

If you would be interested in becoming trained as an energy agent, or have  a hobby you would like to share as an activity at one of our warm hubs, please reach out to us and let us know on 01727 649900 or email us to let us know what you would like to help with. As always, we will give you all the training you need to fulfil these roles. 

We are also providing information on our website about other warm hubs being set up by other organisations, and you can find all of the information here. You can also submit information if you are involved with a group organising a Hub, please just contact us on 01727 649900 or email us and let us know what you would like to help with. 

We would like to thank everyone for the thousands of hours of support you have given to allow us to support vaccination centres in Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and West Essex. 

After a hectic two years we can now confirm that the few mass vaccination centres we are still supporting will be closing on 15th December. We are awaiting confirmation of whether the PopUps will be continuing, at the moment we have been told that they will be happening on the week commencing 22nd December.

Thank you so much for turning out in all weathers and all hours and nearly always smiling. We would love to see you at some of our Christmas Get-togethers so we can thank you in person. The links to register for these can be found above in the newsletter. 

We will soon be finishing our Christmas call around, and will be progressing towards arranging volunteers on the calls with clients and the door step visits. You are still welcome to reach out to us if you would like to conduct some Christmas calls or visits this year. Even if you only have time for a couple, we can always work with your availability and make sure it works for you. We know this can be a busy time of year, so all help is appreciated. Even just one phone call may be all it takes to spread some light to someone lonely this year. 

If you would like to sign up for some calls or visits, or would simply like to learn more, please email us or call 01727 649900. 

We would like to make you aware of an upcoming webinar that may be useful for you to attend.

'Whether you interact with the public in your day job or as a volunteer, we understand how important it is that you can direct residents to trusted sources of help and advice in Hertfordshire when needed.

This webinar will help you identify when a resident may need support, be able to signpost them to a trusted source of advice, and know when and how to refer someone who may need more in-depth support from one of our specialist services in the County. You'll hear from services including Citizens Advice, the Money Advice Unit, Age UK and other professionals in Hertfordshire offering support to residents facing an increased cost of living.'

If you would like to join this webinar, please register using this link.

We have lots of varied volunteering roles available on our website. Whether you are just getting started, or want to try a new role, there any many opportunities on offer.

Day ops facilitators and volunteers

Our Day Opportunities programmes allow people in the community to get out and do various activities including:
-Litter Picking
-Bowls and Croquet
-Computers and a Cuppa

Follow this link to find out more and sign up.

Peer to Peer group Facilitator

This role would see you helping to run a peer to peer group that allows individuals with long term illnesses to gather and share their feelings. We will also be running Ukrainian support meetings, so we will also need volunteers to help facilitate these.

If you would like to help with this, you can find out more information here. If you would like to sign up, please follow this link.

This week our volunteer driver took some NHS recruits for a day out in Hitchin. Hitchin has a lovely church to explore, a museum, plenty of restaurants and cafes and lots of shops to visit. One of the nurses said 'it was a great experience'.

We have completed a six month plan of days out for Watford General and Lister Hospital, so there are plenty of opportunities to help us run these trips as a guide or mini bus driver. These trips take place all around Hertfordshire and beyond, so please don't be put off from enquiring if you do not live near the Lister and Watford General Hospitals.

Come along, make some new friends, and explore places from St Albans and Hitchin, to Cambridge and Windsor!

We can always meet you at the trip location. Furthermore, non driving volunteers can also join the minibus for a lift to the trip location. Please email us or call 01727 649970 if these roles interest you.

If you are able to drive a minibus, have some free time, and enjoy driving, our minibus driving role may be of interest to you. 

Throughout the week we organise days out for members of the community, conduct shopper bus trips throughout Hertfordshire, and also run day trips for new international NHS recruits. These trips are facilitated by our minibuses, and we are looking for some more volunteer drivers to help us.

If minibus driving is not for you, don't worry! We also run a community car scheme which sees volunteers facilitate journeys for clients using their own vehicle.

If you would like to help with either of the above opportunities, please call us on 01727 649970, or email us. 

Our Bushey Computers and a Cuppa session has now launched at Bushey Library. These sessions will run every Thursday between 12pm and 2pm, both in and outside of term time.

We are looking for some volunteers to attend these sessions as digital champions on a regular basis. We can provide you with full training through our Digital Unite training platform.

In addition to this, we also run sessions in Radlett, Potters Bar and Borehamwood, and sometimes require volunteers to cover these sessions when the usual volunteers are unable. If a more intermittent schedule suits you, this might be a better suited opportunity for you.  

Call us on 01727 649900 or email us to find out more. 

We have lots of training opportunities available for anyone who would like to expand their skill set or try something new! 

Please click the register here links to find out some more information. 

December

Dementia Friends Information Session
Date: Wednesday 7 December

Time: 11:00 - 12:00
Register here.

Deaf Awareness Training
Date: Wednesday 14 December 

Time: 10:00 - 12:00

Register here.

Suicide Prevention Training (from Samaritans and Herts County Council)
Dates: Multiple dates throughout December and January
Time: Dependant on the session selected
Register here (full selection of sessions)

You can see and book into all our future training sessions through our online events calendar.

Shopping delivery and prescription collection

• To claim expenses please sign up to our dashboard and upload your expenses here, in order to speed up this process. Click here and create a login using the same email address that you originally signed up with. You will then see a list of your completed and pending activities.
• Please submit these expense claims within the same week that you carried out your shop, and if appropriate, provide a photo of your receipt. If an expense is not claimed in a timely manner it can lead to a client going into arrears, which can cause them stress and confusion. We appreciate your help in this matter.
• If this is your first shop you will first need to send in your bank details to email us, so you can be reimbursed.

Vaccination centre volunteers

• If you haven't already uploaded your bank details, please do so through your online dashboard. 
• If you are experiencing financial hardship because of your volunteering expenses, please email email us and we will reimburse you as soon as possible.

Drivers, litter pickers and other roles

• You will have been sent an expense claim form when you confirmed your job. To claim your expenses please complete this form and return it to the sender.