HEALTH CHARITY CELEBRATES DEDICATED CITY VOLUNTEER
AHEALTH charity is marking Volunteers’ Week by celebrating a dedicated dad-of-three from Glasgow. Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland is thanking its 7000 hardworking volunteers offering vital help to people in need in communities across the country.
In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, more than 388,700 people are living with chest, heart and stroke conditions.
One of the amazing volunteers the charity is celebrating and thanking this week is Doalty Sweeney.
Mr Sweeney, 69, has been a Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland volunteer for 14 years and is one of the volunteers on the newly-formed Glasgow Southside Walking Group.
He is a dad-of-three and grandad-of-three who lives in Glasgow with his wife of 47 years.
He worked in retail all of his life and was still working when he first volunteered with the charity.
He said: “It really was just chance that I ended up with CHSS. The advert was to work with people who had had a stroke and now had communication difficulties.
“For the last 14 years, I’ve been involved with the communication group, using all the tools that CHSS provide to help people improve their speech.
“We all get to know each other very well and it’s become a very important part of my life.
“We couldn’t meet in person for a long time because of the coronavirus restrictions. And what stood out for me was how lovely it was to see everyone’s smiling, happy faces again when the groups were able to get back together.
“The group is so important for stroke survivors because this might be the only time they get to have such focused communication.”
Last year Mr Sweeney helped establish the new Glasgow Southside
Walking Group for those with chest, heart and stroke conditions, which meets fortnightly for leisurely strolls in Rouken Glen Park.
Elaine Fisher, the CHSS volunteer coordinator for Glasgow, credits Mr Sweeney for his efforts in getting the group up and running.
She said: “He has really taken this role and run with it. He takes care of the register and makes sure everyone stays together.
“He supports and encourages everyone, all the while cracking his jokes.
“Doalty has been a wonderful volunteer, and we are so grateful for all his efforts.”
To find out more about volunteering with Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland, you can contact their volunteering team on volunteering@ chss.org.uk.