On Saturday 16th February, during National Student Volunteering Week, we had our Volunteering project day in a beautiful part of Windermere with Leonard Cheshire Disability. The charity helps people with physical impairments, learning difficulties and long-term health conditions, as well as their carers, friends and families. They have a home (with nursing care) at Holehird in Windermere, which is situated right next to Holehird Gardens, home of the Lakeland Horticultural Society.
When we arrived, Chris the Volunteering Coordinator, gave us a tour and some background on the organisation and then we went in to meet the service users. There were 9 student volunteers and some of our group stayed in the main room and played games and activities with the residents. One of the service users was really keen to make cards so Zaedea, one of our creative Fine Art students, spent some time with him drawing pictures onto cards and using all the materials in the art room . Some of the volunteers also spent time with individuals, reading different books to them.
In the afternoon everyone came together and the volunteers split themselves up so that they were in teams with the residents for a quiz. This was a lot of fun and whilst not everyone was able to participate fully, it was a good opportunity to talk to the residents. Having a topic to discuss also made it a bit easier for those who weren’t as confident talking to people with learning dfifficulties. It can be hard to communicate at first and sometimes people are unsure of what to say, but after spending some time with the residents, people seemed much more confident.
At the end of the day we spent some time in the holehird gardens and Chris explained that our visit had been great for the residents, and he invited people to come back in the future. There are lots of ways volunteers can get involved, from taking part in the activities, to coming to share their hobbies and interests. For example, if there are any musicians or photographers out there, they could come and perform or put together a slide show with some of their favourite pictures.
“I have enjoyed the day and it was great to help people with disabilities as something so small can bring so much enjoyment to their day” UCSU Volunteer
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