Making A Difference Volunteer Update

We hope you are all staying safe in the cold weather and the snow we have had recently. Please ensure you wrap up warm during any volunteering activities that require you to be outside. Check the Met Office website to keep up to date on weather forcasts and warnings. 

We would like to thank everyone who attended our thank you staff and volunteer get togethers last week in St Albans, Radlett and Cheshunt. It was a pleasure to be able to thank everyone for all their hard work and contributions to our projects over the last year, and to share all our stories with one another. To those of you who were unable to join us, we would like to extend our gratitude to you also. It is with your help that we are able to offer so much to the community, and we always appreciate your efforts and generous donation of time to us. 

You may have seen that we have opened some warm hubs this autumn and winter, to offer respite to the community during this cold weather. These hubs offer a place to sit and have a chat with friends, receive advice and guidance around energy saving and we even run free activities people can engage with. If you would like to help us run these warm hub sessions, or have a hobby or craft you would like to show case, please email us or call on 01727 649900.

All the best for the week ahead,

Stephen Craker

Chief Executive

Last week we hosted our Thank You Get-Together events in Radlett, Cheshunt and St Albans.

It was a fantastic opportunity to thank you all in person, and to share all our stories from the last year. Your continued support has allowed us to once again deliver amazing support to individuals throughout the community, from all your help on your vaccination centre shifts to your support of our making a difference activities like befriending, shopping deliveries and neighbourly walks. 

We could not do what we do as an organisation without your efforts, and we thank you all again. 

This session will give you the opportunity to learn more about what it is like to live with dementia and turn that understanding into action.

Date: Wednesday 18th January

Time: 11am-12pm

Register here.

An introduction to the British Sign Language and how it can be applied effectively to communicate with those living with deafness and hearing loss.

Date: Wednesday 25th January

Time: 10am-12pm

Register here.

The Samaritans and Hertfordshire County Council are offering free Suicide Prevention training for public sector frontline staff and people working in the voluntary sector in Hertfordshire - this includes you!

Sessions are available throughout December and January. You can view each event and book your place using the button below.

We hope you are already aware of our Warm Welcome Hubs taking place in Radlett and Borehamwood. Now that these are up and running, we need friendly Activities Facilitators to help us organise some activities for the attending guests.

Please be aware, due to the Christmas bank holidays, the Phillimore Centre session will be moved from the 27th of December, to the 29th. 

Activities we could offer include:

• Knitting
• Cooking
• Reading
• Movies

We are open to activity suggestions. If you have a particular hobby you can share, even better. Get in touch by emailing or calling 01727 649950.

We are looking for Bus Buddies to help out on our Shopper Bus and Day Trippers services.

Buddies will help people on and off the bus and carry shopping, as well as chat with the clients to make them feel part of the group.

If you are interested in this role, email us or call 01727 649950.

To learn more about our Shopper Bus and Day Trippers services, click the button below.

The Our Health Matters project aims to tackle health inequalities in Cowley Hill and Brookmeadow, Borehamwood.

We are recruiting volunteer Community Connectors who will help us give voice to the communities in these areas which may be facing health inequalities. This will include ethnic minority communities. 

It would be helpful if you had experience (as patient or carer) of severe mental illness, chronic respiratory disease, cancer, or hypertension.

If you would be interested in joining this project, please email Jane Yates or call 01727 649900.

If you enjoy or excel at manual jobs like DIY or gardening, We Want You!

We offer a Handyperson and Gardening service for vulnerable people who are elderly, disabled, or have poor mobility.

To learn about available Gardening volunteer opportunities, please click here.

To learn about available Handyperson volunteer opportunities, please click here.

Use the button below if you would like to read more about what this service offers.

Communities 1st has their own group of minibuses, which we use to help us conduct some of our project activities.

We are looking for some volunteers who would like to help us as minibus drivers, in order to facilitate numerous activities throughout the community, from our shopper bus service to driving on day trips for our international nurses project.

Click here to register your interest in volunteering on this activity.

We are looking for meeting facilitators to help out at the support meet-ups we run for Ukrainian guests and hosts in St Albans and Radlett.

We are looking for friendly, compassionate volunteers to help deliver these sessions.

If you are interested in helping out, please email us or telephone 01727 649900.

We are hoping to expand our neighbourly walks support due to increased interest from clients we support.

This service would see you support someone local to you with a walk around their neighbourhood to help reduce isolation while also helping people get some fresh air.  

If you are interested in this opportunity, email us or telephone 01727 649950.

If you have a few hours to spare, consider becoming a volunteer office administrator in one of our offices.

You will be helping us with important tasks such as volunteer recruitment and arranging shopping deliveries.

If you're interested in this role, please email us or call 01727 649950.