Volunteer Corner

THRIVE uses gardening to bring about positive changes to the lives of people living with disabilities or ill-health, or isolated, disadvantaged or vulnerable.

The charity is looking for client support volunteers to assist the client gardeners and horticultural therapists at its garden in Beech Hill near Reading.

Helping directly with its clients, volunteers support our horticultural therapists in delivering a high level of service to client gardeners with a disability or ill-health.

Client gardeners come to its gardening programmes with a range of disabilities and health conditions and the programmes they follow vary from general gardening to working towards horticultural qualifications.

Thrive is looking for people with; patience and understanding with a commitment to being supportive and companionable, flexibility – task may need to change, and client gardeners’ behaviour may be surprising or erratic, reliability – for both the therapists and the client gardeners this is important for continuity and trust, the ability to explain tasks clearly and in simple way and have some understanding of basic gardening skills.

SHaRON is an online initiative to provide help and support to service users in Berkshire who have experienced mental health issues.

SHaRON is a safe and anonymous environment where people can both receive support and help others who are in or have been through similar situations.

You can help people improve their lives by volunteering with the SHaRON Moderation Team for this new development.

The role includes reading and responding appropriately to posts from service users.

Volunteers must have an interest in supporting service users with mental health issues and their families and carers, a friendly, empathetic personality and excellent online compassionate communication skills, a desire to help people regain control over their mental health and an interest and experience of social media platforms.

Wokingham Hospital is looking for volunteers in a variety of roles on the wards.

Some volunteers may be happy to help directly with patients by interacting with them such as chatting, helping them participate in

social activities, playing cards/games, doing puzzles, painting their nails, and doing their hair.

Assisting with meal preparations, if appropriate timing, is possible.

This includes taking menu choices, setting tables, offering hand wipes as directed.

All activity will be under the direction of nursing staff.

If you are interested in admin, Wokingham Hospital would love to hear from you.

If you are organised and a good communicator, perhaps you could help organise and manage visiting appointments.

The main requirement for the ward roles is a friendly demeanour – patient, caring attitude and common to all volunteers an unselfish desire to help.

These are just a few roles on our books. Visit our website www. volunteerwokinghamborough.org.uk to find out more and have a look at all the roles we have to offer.

If you would like to get in touch with us please call 0118 977 0749, or email: volunteer@wok-vol.org.uk