The gift of time
From mixing cocktails in care homes to giving the unemployed makeovers before job interviews, ALEX LLOYD looks at the weird and wonderful ways to volunteer for the good of others
CHRISTMAS is the season of giving with nine million British people – almost one in five of us – planning to volunteer over the festive period. But this goodwill shouldn’t end when the decorations come down and it doesn’t have to mean baking cakes or selling raffle tickets.
There are a whole host of exciting and innovative volunteering opportunities out there that offer a chance to use your own special skills or develop interesting new ones. At Suited For Success in Birmingham, a charity that kits out the longterm unemployed with a smart interview outfit, volunteers not only sort through second-hand donations but act as stylists.
Claudette de la Rey, 45, gives up one evening a month to help jobseekers make a good first impression and secure the position that could transform their future. “It’s about giving people dignity and we make sure each client walks out of here happy with their outfit,” says the mumof-three from Edgbaston. “We spend a long time with them encouraging them to try different styles and making them feel valued. They will say things like ‘I don’t suit stripes or pink’ and then choose exactly that and they look like a million dollars. It’s so rewarding when we get a message to say they got the job.”
Claudette was involved with a foodbank when she heard about a pilot scheme three years ago and decided to help it get off the ground.
Suited For Success officially opened in January 2017 and has worked with more than 500 people in a city that has some of the highest rates of unemployment in the UK, also offering interview coaching.
“It seemed like such a nice way to help people,” says Claudette, one of 14 volunteers. “I’m a trained nurse but I’ve been a stay-at-home mum the last 10 years. Volunteering gives me a chance to do some good.
“I also help out at a swimming club that my children attend and I teach English to nonnative speakers on Friday evenings at my local school.” l suitedforsuccess.co.uk
Breast intentions
Retired teacher Lynne Hawksworth, 65, was bored of crafting blanket squares for charity when she came across Knitted Knockers UK almost five years ago.
The group makes high quality cotton protheses for women who have undergone mastectomies and find silicone ones uncomfortable. “This was definitely not boring!” says the grandmother-of-four from Southport. “Each knocker is made to order and there is strict quality control.
“I can make one in an evening if needed but it generally takes two to three days.”
Lynne has made more than 200 of the knitted breasts and is now a trustee of the charity, taking charge of orders.
“We have 138 volunteer knitters from the top of Scotland to the bottom of Cornwall and we communicate online,” she explains. “They are mostly retired but we also have younger women who have been touched by breast cancer.
“As long as you can knit or crochet, use double pointed needles and have access to the internet, you can apply to join. We supply the materials and pay for the postage.”
The avid knitter says getting involved has given her retirement purpose, with even her 11-year-old granddaughter LucyMae helping out.
“I feel I’ve got much more out of it than I’ve given,” she says.
“It’s taken over my life but it is beautiful when I hear from the women we’ve helped. I need a box of tissues when I sit at the computer and read the messages.
“Knitting is something I’d be doing anyway and my family could only wear so many jumpers.” kkukciowix.com
Kidding around
Saddling up a donkey and feeding the chickens is all in a day’s volunteering for dad-oftwo Joe Lonergan. The 44-year-old spends two Sundays a month helping to keep the residents of Mudchute City Farm in London cleaned, fed and watered.
Joe started tending for the 100 animals and fowl at the urban farm three years ago after spotting a sign looking for helpers. “We used to take the kids and I thought I’d give it a go,” he says. “I was a stay-at-home dad and so it gave me a chance to get out of the house.
“I’d never worked with animals and before long I found myself saddling donkeys and taking them out to the fields. There’s lots to do. I might feed the alpacas and llamas or clean out the chickens. My favourite thing is working with the goats as they like to rub their heads on you and being cuddled.”
The 32-acre farm in the Isle of Dogs is one of the largest inner city farms in Europe and volunteers can do anything from grooming residents and mucking out stables to gardening and helping with the charity’s financial accounts. But while Joe, from Bexleyheath, Kent, loves his bimonthly escape to the country, he isn’t planning to pursue a farming career any time soon: “It’s nice to dabble but it’s hard work. Plus you need to watch out for those alpacas as they like to spit at you.” l mudchute.org
raise a toast
When Rosie Goldsmith finishes work, she heads for a drink with some old friends – at a care home. The 24-year-old is a volunteer party manager for intergenerational arts charity Magic Me, which runs monthly drinks soirees called Cocktails In Care Homes.
The project started in 2010 to combat the loneliness residents experienced during evenings when few visitors are there. Now 400 older people get to enjoy events with music, drinks and volunteer guests in 16 London care homes. Such is the reputation of the parties that there is currently a waiting list of potential volunteers wanting to help.
Rosie, who works for the Holocaust Education Trust, says: “My work is quite intense and sometimes I have to motivate myself to attend rather than go home to sleep. I’m always glad I did. You meet some amazing characters and you leave feeling buoyant. You have given their evening colour, music and conversation – and you get a chance to escape from your mundane day-to-day life.”
Rosie, from Balham, south London, sets up the parties at Penfold Court in Marylebone, decorating the room, mixing drinks and making sure the residents and volunteers are happy. “It can get a bit rowdy sometimes,” she admits. “People will be up having a bop.”
magicme.org/projects/ cocktails-in-care-homes