Meet one of our Talk & Support Volunteers
Bev is a Talk and Support Volunteer.
“I support several family carers, calling them every two weeks. I listen and chat about any concerns or worries they have. It gives carers the space to talk about their concerns, and to let off steam. Calls also give family carers a chance to offload to someone outside the family. Family members may be struggling themselves to deal with the situation and carers don’t want to add to that worry. If you are looking after someone who is no longer able to communicate, you miss the chance to just chat. I find myself talking about all sorts of things and it gives carers a chance to step outside their caring role for a brief time and just be themselves.
“I volunteer out of a mix of altruism and selfishness! To help others and at the same time help myself. I had experience of caring for two people close to me so my GP suggested getting in touch with Suffolk Family Carers. I did and went to a ‘Caring for Dementia with Confidence Workshop’. That was where I learnt about Talk and Support and I received calls for several months. The calls gave me a safe space to offload and gradually helped me to get things back in proportion and restore confidence that I could do it.
“When my husband died the complex timetable of visits from carers and other professionals ended overnight and I was left feeling redundant. Knowing how much Talk and Support calls had helped me, it was the newsletter appeal for volunteers for this service that caught my eye so I decided to give it a go.
“Volunteering helps to give me structure and purpose and it’s a great reason to get out of the house. It has helped me enormously: particularly as you get older it’s very easy to feel you don’t matter and that you have no opportunity to contribute going forward. It’s been great to be able to use the experience of looking after my own husband for something positive, it is almost his legacy to me that I can go forward and help others.
“Volunteering has been an important part of my own wellbeing – there is a term ‘ageing well’ and volunteering has helped me with this allowing me to learn new skills and increasing social contact.”
