M A R C H 2 0 1 8 I S S U E 1

Happy 2020, and welcome to our new-look newsletter! Our Volunteer Programme is thriving,

with a growing volunteer team, more roles and projects in the pipeline, the building of relation-

ships with corporate partners (we’ll have an article on this later in the year), and looking at

more ways we can recognise, support, reward, and communicate with our volunteers.

We have exciting news to share - one of our teams has received a nomination for a Mayor of

Croydon Civic Award, we will be on TV, and we have a new garden (the new garden is the

reason we are on TV, as you will see inside). There you will also find more on our Befriending

service, now in its second year, and supported entirely by volunteers.

This issue also features the latest ad-

vice from Age UK national on reducing

your risk of coronavirus. We are moni-

toring the situation on a daily basis,

and will keep you updated through

emails and letters. Please get in touch

if you have any questions.

Thank you ever so much for the ster-

ling work that you do, and for being

our volunteers! We couldn’t do it with-

out you.

Admin and Reception

Karen Smith

Activities

Madge Heron

ASC

Sereen Gordon

Memory Tree Café

Neisha Nesbeth

Gardening

Esme Alexander

Charles East

Elsie Henderson

Beryl Mealing

Annette Rose

Susan Sutton

Social Media

Nicole Mezzasalma

Lisa Rouse

Befriending

Milly Ajayi

Trisha Brigemohane

Claire Browning

Bianca Butler

Ishmael Gowero

Millicent Hall

Dezrine Johnson

Brishvee Mooloo

Karen Pratt

Heather Readdy

Scott Smith

Greta Sohoye P A G E 1

ITV’s Love

Your Garden

Make-over!

Befriending

special

Latest News Pg 1

New Starters Pg 1

Spotlight on

Befriending

Pg 2

Volunteering

News

Pg 3

Dates for your

Diary

Pg 4

Cornonavirus

prevention

Pg 4

Contact us Pg 4

New starters

We didn't have room in our

action-packed edition for our

survey results; we can say for

now that Anthony, PIC handy-

man, won a bottle of rum!

You’ll have another chance to

take part and win later in the

year

VOLUNTEERING

Spring 2020

P A G E 2

Spotlight on… Befriending Age UK Croydon’s new Befriending service started in January 2019 with a target of 20 volunteers each

year. Referrals come through our Personal Independence Coordinator service, where we provide short-

term one-to-one support to people to fulfil their personal goals. The Befriending Programme enables us to

continue to give support after the initial period. In 2020, additional funding allowed us to open the service

to referrals via our Memory Tree Café for people living with dementia.

The service is run by Nic Vine, Befriending Coordinator, who previously worked with our Healthier Life-

styles project. Nic says “we have wonderful clients and volunteers who are getting on great, and developing

relationships. The volunteers are a huge part of the service, and without them it would not be a success;

they have been instrumental in improving the emotional wellbeing, and even the safety, of the clients”.

Leanne is one of our first batch of befrienders, having

first reached out to us about befriending a couple of

years ago. Leanne’s client, Ian, has said that he is

always happy to see her, and knows that she always

looks out for him. He likes it when she visits. Leanne

has worked with Nic Vine to support her client with a

housing issue, which shows that befriending provides

much more than companionship; without someone to

speak to regularly, people can find themselves miss-

ing out on other forms of support. Nic keeps in regu-

lar contact with the befrienders, and is able to liaise

with other teams at Age UK Croydon.

Michelle also volunteers as a PIC support volunteer, visiting

clients on a short-term basis to provide assistance with more

practical tasks. She also befriends Margaret on a regular

basis. They get on really well and talk about all sorts, putting

the world to rights. Michelle escorts her to medical appoint-

ments, and supports her in her low moods. Margaret has

stated she loves Michelle’s visits and would miss them if she

did not attend.

Dezrine started befriending in November 2019. Dezrine and her

client Peter both share the same cultural background, taste in mu-

sic, and attended the same clubs in their youth. He enjoys their

chats and looks forward to the visits. Peter has a cleaner, but if

Dezrine did not attend he would have no one else to talk to – he

says he really looks forward to the visits.

If you have an hour per week to visit one of our

clients, contact the Volunteer Programme for

more information

P A G E 3

volunteering news

Civic Awards nomination

Every year, The Mayor of Croydon Civic Awards celebrate com-

munity heroes across the borough – the volunteers, community

groups, local partners and businesses dedicated to helping others.

This year we are delighted to announce that Melvyn and Chrystle,

the husband and wife volunteering team who run our 'You Too

Can Sing!' choir, have been nominated for Voluntary Group of the

Year. The choir has been running since 2013, bringing together

older members of the community to meet, sing, bond and have

fun. The awards ceremony will take place later this month, and we

wish Melvyn and Chrystle all the very best of luck!

Melvyn and Chrystle, You Too Can Sing choir

Your eyes do not deceive you - this is Alan Titchmarsh

standing outside our Scratchely Hall, during the filming of

the garden make-over we received last October, courte-

sy of Love Your Garden. The programme will be aired on

Tuesday 17th March at 8pm on ITV, and stars our won-

derful clients (and new gardening volunteers!), as well as

some of our staff. Nick Linney and Laura James of the

Volunteering team may be spotted in the background

during the 'big reveal' (keep your eyes peeled). We will

be sharing more on the garden next newsletter, including

our new garden volunteer role.

Age UK Croydon's new garden coming to ITV!

Alan Titchmarsh during filming

Volunteer communications

The Volunteer Programme offers training and support, and

organizes events to reward and celebrate our volunteers.

Some of you may wish to take part in one-off events if giv-

en the opportunity, for example we gave volunteers the

chance to help alongside staff members at our stall at

Thornton Heath Festival. If you would like to opt out of

communications that are not specifically related to your

role, you can opt out of our general mailing list.

Michael (left), PIC admin volunteer, and Collette (right), befriender,

with Kaydian Henry , Personal Independence Coordinator,

Thornton Heath Festival

Charles, garden volunteer, at our Volunteer Christmas Party

(right)

Recruiting Now!

Dates for your diary

17/03/2020 Love Your Garden episode on ITV

19/03/2020 Volunteer and Befriending Induction

07/04/2020 Spring Coffee Morning for volunteers (tbc)

02/06/2020 Volunteer Garden Party

Get in touch for more information

Contact Details

Volunteer Programme Age UK Croydon

81 Brigstock Road Thornton Heath

Surrey CR7 7JH

Phone: 020 3701 3264

Email: volunteering@ageukcroydon.org.uk

P A G E 4

We are looking for a keyboard accompanist to support Melvyn and Chrystle in running the choir; someone who can

read sheet music, who is available on Monday afternoons, and would enjoy supporting our wonderful ‘You Too Can

Sing!’ choir. The emphasis is on singing for enjoyment and to gain confidence, rather than training to reach a certain

standard, and the choir occasionally performs at other venues in the borough.

Also: Personal Independence Coordinator support volunteers / Health Champions / Memory Tree Café Assistants

Age UK national have issued

this handy 4-step guide to re-

ducing your risk of contracting

coronavirus. If you have any

questions, please don't hesitate

to contact us