Voluntary Action SWS News

In the UK loneliness is fast becoming one of the biggest risks factors affecting peoples’ mental and physical health. A study by The Co-op and the British Red Cross reveals over 9 million people in the UK across all adult ages, more than the population of London, are either always or often lonely.

To raise awareness of this, Loneliness Awareness Week took place between 17^th-21^st June, highlighting the volume of people experiencing loneliness or isolation and ensuring people know where to seek the appropriate help in their communities.

As part of this nation-wide initiative Loneliness Minister Mims Davies launched a new campaign entitled, ‘Let’s Talk Loneliness’, tackling the negative stigma surrounding it and encouraging people to speak out and break down barriers.

Let’s Talk Loneliness

‘Let’s Talk Loneliness’ brings together charities, organisations and businesses including: The Marmalade Trust, the Co-op Foundation, the British Red Cross, the Campaign to End Loneliness, Mind, Public Health England and the Jo Cox Foundation to help people talk about their feelings.

This campaign was launched as a new poll showed not wanting to burden others as the main barrier preventing people talking about their feelings of loneliness. For more information about the campaign, please click here.

As the problem of loneliness and isolation becomes more prevalent, there is an extensive number of services in the community helping to break down the stigma and connect people together.

How can we help prevent and reduce loneliness in Guildford and Waverley?

At Community Point, we can help reduce isolation and loneliness by connecting people to activities and services in Guildford and Waverley that can improve wellbeing. We can help people do the following: volunteer, connect with others and get support from local services.

Volunteer

Volunteering is a great way to meet new people, learn new skills and make a difference to the community.

There is something for everybody, from working with the emergency services, to helping animals or children and adults with disabilities. For more information about the benefits of volunteering, please take a look at our ‘Why Volunteer’ blog post.

Connect

Other ways we can assist is through helping people start new activities to meet people. If people are nervous about attending their first session, a volunteer at Community Point can also go with people to ease the pressure.

Support from services

If anyone needs support from local services but are unsure of where to go or how to contact them, we can help research exactly what is needed and put people in touch with the right services.

Where can you find us?

We’re a free service based on 39 Castle Street (opposite the Castle grounds and the King’s Head pub) in the Voluntary Action South West Surrey premises and are available Monday-Friday 10am-3pm for a friendly chat about how we can help you. Either pop in to see us, call us on 01483 565456, or visit the Community Point website to fill out a contact form – http://communitypoint.org.uk/

We are passionate about connecting people in the community and want to reduce the figure of those experiencing loneliness or isolation.

We are delighted to be able to support this very successful project, by supplying volunteers from our Welcome to Volunteering and Welcome Buddies projects.

Our clients are guaranteed a very warm welcome in a very safe space alongside other people experiencing similar difficulties.

We have noticed real improvements in the health and wellbeing of our clients who attend.

Huge thank you to Corin and his friendly team for all the support and encouragement given to those we refer.

Lorraine Yates and Claire Lane – Welcome to Volunteering Officers

Denise Graves  – Welcome Buddies

Volunteers’ Week 2019 is a national initiative and took place between 1st-7th June. It was a fantastic opportunity to show appreciation for volunteering and say thank you the hundreds of people giving their time for free by volunteering in the community.

We celebrated the week by getting out and about in Guildford and Waverley, spreading the word about the fantastic volunteers and advocating the benefits of volunteering. We were on the radio, filmed by That’s Surrey TV and spent an afternoon volunteering at Sayer’s Croft in Cranleigh helping to cut back bramble bushes, recuperating afterwards by visiting the Cranleigh Arts Centre.

We also hosted a Volunteer Centre Takeover with a handful of local organisations who dropped in to the centre and updated us about their current events, volunteering roles and they chatted to any potential volunteers.

A massive thank you to Cherry Trees, Headway Surrey, The Artventure Trust and Guildford Walking for Health for joining the takeover and thank you to the teams working in our own projects and services who were also part of the event, including Welcome Buddies, Welcome to Volunteering, Social Prescribing and Community Point.

It was a fantastic week and we are looking forward to meeting lots of new volunteers over the next year, helping people and celebrating in June 2020! If you need our support to help with connecting to local activities, finding support from local services, or starting your volunteering journey, please contact us on 01483 565456, or fill out a Community Point contact form.

Guildford voluntary groups are among seven Surrey recipients of the 2019 Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

Hundreds of dedicated volunteers, ranging in age from 18 to over 80, who work with these groups across Surrey have had their outstanding contributions recognised and announced to coincide with the UK’s Volunteers Week, June 1 to 7.

It is the equivalent of the MBE for local groups of volunteers and sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering. 

The Guildford Town Guides are proud to have won the award.
Its volunteer guides have taken thousands of residents and visitors on a journey back over 1,000 years to learn about the history of the town and its residents of the past. 

This includes The Guildford Story walk, and several special themed walks including Lewis Carroll, Medieval Guildford, Victorian Guildford, industries, pubs and inns and the more recent additions of special walks on the life of Alan Turing and his family in the town, and leading lights, looking at the famous artistic residents. 

These walks are all free for the public to join and more details including dates and times can be found at: www.guildfordwalks.org.uk 

Other recipients of the award from Surrey include: Guildford-based Friday Swimmers. It is a club for physically disabled and post-operative patients, run entirely by volunteers.

It is a registered charity working in conjunction with Guildford’s Spectrum leisure complex to provide assistance and therapy in a safe pool environment for those with a physical disability, regardless of swimming ability or age.

Dyscover: a Leatherhead-based charity providing long-term support and opportunities to people with aphasia and their families.

Patchworking Garden Project: based in Dorking.

Stripey Stork: based in Reigate and Redhil. It collects donations of toys, clothes and other essential items for babies and children and, after checking they meet current UK safety standards, re-home them with local families experiencing hardship.

The Millennium Embroidery Group from Shepperton: Based at The Sunbury Gallery, an educational resource with a programme of exhibitions, workshops and talks.

They will all be presented with their award by the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux, at a later date.

For more information about working with local voluntary and charity organisations, please see our list of current volunteering roles.