Proud to say a “thank you” to selfless helpers

“Individually and collectively volunteers are an awesome force.”

THE MASONIC Hall in Laurencekirk was filling up nicely. Mostly women gathering in a large room that historically had been an all-male domain, but with a reasonable showing of the opposite gender on a grey winter Sunday afternoon.

Quite a chatter was filling the air with the photographs of Masonic men carefully watching over the proceedings. The 70 or so individuals present were settling down to receive their certificates from the Mearns and Coastal Healthy Living Network (MCHLN) for service to their community.

They were volunteers and proud of it. I was there to present the certificates and say a few words about their efforts.

I was proud too – who wouldn’t be in such a throng. How long is a good speech I asked the lady next to me? Quick as a flash she responded: “As long as it takes to suck a pandrop!” I had never heard that definition before in a long journey of public speaking, but I liked it.

It was just the sort of answer that a busy volunteer would have to hand. They can be like that, volunteers, to the point, no fuss, just getting on with the job.

I said a few words watching for anyone discreetly searching their person for a second pandrop. Nothing was evident, but they looked the sort of people who could handle a transfer from pocket to mouth with discreet skill. It’s the sort of manoeuvre practised during Kirk sermons every Sunday.

The good folk in the hall listened to my words of congratulations, rose up to collect their certificates, and went back to their seats to the sound of their peers’applause.

Whatever their lengths of service they had done a great deal for their community, working with a range of groups to improve the health of older people.

Individually and collectively volunteers are an awesome force. Add them up and in Scotland they represent a silent army which underpins the work of local authorities, health boards and a host of focused and selfless individuals.

They ask little for what they do and I have learned over the years that simply saying “thank you” means a great deal as an acknowledgement they are respected and valued.

The network takes its work seriously, aiming to make a positive and helpful contribution to the lives of others. It has offered companionship and support in a way that warms the heart.

I was told by an older person about how eating alone, day after day, meal after meal, when the only sound in the room is that of cutlery scraping on a plate, can be a dispiriting process.

That individual now goes to a lunch club which is not only a source of food, but a tangible connection with a community.

The network has done a great deal to challenge isolation; to recognise the true nature of life in a rural Scotland – and it’s not all milk and honey – and helped people to help themselves

And it has reminded individuals there is a network out there of like-minded people.

And the amazing thing is that it is only one of many volunteer groups.