Below are just a few examples of how volunteering has positively impacted the lives of some people in the local area:

Sandra

Sandra saw one of our Volunteer Officers in April 2010. She was unemployed and was looking for work. She did a Taster Day in retail at Biddulph’s Age UK shop in May 2010. She continued to volunteer afterwards, learning how to deal with customers and use the till, increasing her confidence and skill base while looking at other work opportunities.

In November, Sandra put the skills she had learnt while volunteering to good use and secured a paid, full-time job working in Sainsburys in Biddulph.

Fred

Fred gained work through a friend’s family building business but due to the recession had been made redundant. After twelve months of unemployment Fred was offered a six month placement under the Future Jobs Fund Scheme with the Saltbox Chaplaincy Project involving property maintenance which allowed Fred to use his building skills.

Chris James, Supervisor said: ‘Fred has been a very hard working and reliable employee with a calm approach to the type of clients we have to deal with. I am pleased we have been able to offer Fred a permanent position with our organisation.’

Diane

Diane suffered greatly with her nerves and anxiety but with the help of a Buddy her confidence flourished, her ambitions grew and she developed a more positive attitude towards life.

Volunteering for the local Citizens Advice Bureau helped her to rediscover her people skills and develop new skills. Subsequently, Diane was offered a part-time job by her previous employer, boosting her confidence even further. In time, she is keen to increase her volunteering and working hours and aims to be in full-time employment.

Dan

Following a college course, Dan was unemployed for 5 months. He wanted to gain experience and learn to be a counsellor. Finding out about volunteering through his Connexions advisor, he contacted the Volunteer Centre which found him a volunteering opportunity with Changes where Dan completed the Changes Mental Health Co-ordination course and, through support from Groundwork, he was also able to gain a Future Jobs Fund position. Dan said: ‘Volunteering has helped give me more job satisfaction by way of helping people and made me more empathetic.’

Linda

Linda was an early volunteer onto the V4H project. She had recently been bereaved and had been referred by her GP. After several meetings, Linda showed interest in the Healthy Walks project run by the CVS and met the project coordinator.

She trained as a walk leader and regularly led walks. When she completed her 13 week wellbeing review with her GP she registered an improvement in ‘feeling cheerful’ and ‘feeling appreciated’ as well as ‘dealing with problems better’ and ‘feeling more confident’. Linda continues to volunteer and has completed 12 months with the Healthy Walks project.

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