Making a Difference
There is a huge but largely unknown army of people in Hackney who cheerfully, and without any expectation of reward or recognition, go out of their way to help others.
This year’s Volunteers Week – from 1 to 7 June – will celebrate their contribution and sees events taking place across Hackney aimed at promoting volunteering, and encouraging more people to take part.
An estimated 73 per cent of adults in England and Wales carry out unpaid community work. This could be anything from visiting an older person at home or being a school governor, to helping out in a classroom, running an event for a faith group, coaching a football team or doing administration work for a charity.
The Council’s mobile youth centre, the Purple Bus, will spend Volunteers Week touring the borough, with Hackney Voluntary Action (HVA) staff giving advice and answering questions. Staff will also provide information about Personal Best, a London 2012 Olympic volunteering programme. It offers people who are not in work or education, the chance to volunteer in their communities and gain skills to improve their job prospects.
Successful graduates will receive a nationally recognised qualification and a guaranteed interview to become one of the 70,000 volunteers who will help at the London 2012 Games. Giving up time in this way does not affect people’s entitlement to benefits, as long as they are not being paid anything other than expenses.
The stories featured here show some of the different ways that people in Hackney are helping others.
More information
For further details about Volunteers Week see www.volunteersweek.org.uk.
For advice on volunteering in Hackney, contact HVA on: 020 7241 4443; or info@hackneyvoluntaryaction.org.uk.
You can also look for volunteering opportunities at: www.do-it. org.uk.
Volunteers
Chitra Banerjee, 68
Chitra works for Age Concern Hackney. Through the Personal Best programme, she completed 10 weeks of volunteer training with charity Rising Tide which gave her the opportunity to help with an official visit by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to the Games site last June. She also helped with crowd control at the Shoreditch Festival in August.
She said: “We started our training by learning about health and safety; how to help disabled people access events; and how to direct people and control crowds. We also learnt about how to communicate with people who do not speak much English.
“When the IOC visited, I helped direct them around the Games site and made sure they were wearing hard hats in the construction areas. At the Shoreditch Festival, I helped direct people through the streets, explained to parents where under-fives could play, and worked with the security team to keep the crowds under control.
“Volunteering is something I enjoy from the bottom of my heart because I know I’m helping others. I hope to be able to help during the Games in 2012.”
Interested? The Learning Trust is looking to recruit 400 people to Personal Best over the next two years. Anyone interested should contact Oliur Rahman at the Learning Trust on: 020 8820 7073 or oliur.rahman@learningtrust.co.uk
Ken Bojeghre
Ken volunteers for Hackney Community Resource Team (CRT).
He has been a ‘befriender’ with older people in Hackney for the past five years, and has been visiting Stamford Francis once a week since 2003. Mr Francis, a former community worker, has visual impairment caused by glaucoma.
Ken said: “I have learnt a number of skills from the CRT including understanding and relating to people with dementia, understanding bereavement and effective communication.
“My experience as a volunteer is something that I will treasure as it has been much more rewarding than I could ever have imagined.”
Mr Francis said: “We have come to know each other over the years. He keeps me company and cares about my welfare. He is a kind and lovely friend of mine.”
Interested? For details of volunteering opportunities with the CRT Team contact Marcia Davis on: marcia.davis@hackney.gov.uk.
Takashi Bailey, 19
London Metropolitan University student Takashi is a facilitator and mentor to the Wilton Youth Club on the Wilton Estate, E9, where he helps out with sports activities and – as he is also a competent drummer – with the music project.
He is studying for a degree in Community Sport Coaching and Performance, for which he has been awarded a scholarship. He also finds time to study for his coaching qualifications in cricket and basketball.
He said: “Voluntary work has made me grow as a young person and I want to show other young people what they can achieve if they seize the opportunities given to them.”
Michelle Flood, 27
Council employee Michelle has been a reading partner for two-and-a-half years, giving up one lunchtime each week to read to Year Six children at London Fields and Gayhurst primary schools.
The sessions are one-to-one with children who need extra support with reading, or who have English as an additional language.
The reading volunteers are recruited from local organisations by Inspire, Hackney’s Education Business partnership. Michelle had to apply formally, and be interviewed and police checked.
She said: “I realised from seeing kids in my daughter’s class that there is a lack of literacy among primary schoolchildren. Reading is very important in a child’s life and I’ve seen how reading with her has helped my daughter.
“I like reading myself and I get enjoyment from books so I like to see the children’s growing interest in reading and how reading aloud helps them to speak out more confidently.”
Interested? Inspire is looking for more employers to get involved. They require a minimum of five volunteers from an organisation to set up a new scheme. For more details contact Karen Diamond on: 020 7275 6060; email: karen.diamond@inspire-ebp.org.uk; or visit: www.inspire-ebp.org.
Florence Boko, 25
A mother herself, Florence is a volunteer labour companion at Homerton Hospital. She takes part in a scheme where expectant African and Caribbean women can be put in touch with a ‘companion’ who will offer assistance during a birth.
Babies are delivered by midwives, but the trained volunteers provide extra support, offer relaxation techniques and are a friendly face that the expectant mum gets to know in advance.
Florence has already supported seven women during labour, as well as helping many more during their pregnancy and after they’ve given birth. She has been trained to provide breast feeding support and is able to help many women who are unsure about what to do. Florence said: “I’m very happy to be a volunteer. It is really exciting to see a baby being delivered and cry for the first time – I’ve also cried myself!
“The women really appreciate the support and it is wonderful to know that I’ve been able to help.”
Interested? Visit: www.homerton.nhs.uk /volunteers, or call: 020 8510 5955.
Page updated: 2 Jun 2008