Neighbourcare is completely volunteer run. We don’t have any employed staff.
One thing we stress is that there is no sharp division between those we help and those who help them. We’re always delighted when users of our services want to be volunteers as well.
And if you come to us as a volunteer but then find you’re going through a bad patch, you can look for support both from our volunteers and from those we look after.
VOLUNTEER FOR US
Our main need, always, is for befrienders – people who commit to making regular visits to older people who can no longer get out and about and often spend whole days with no company except the television.
Nowadays we get many of our new befrienders by personally approaching people we think would have the ability and time to do the job well – people who are warm-hearted and conscientious.
If you think that’s you and you live in our area, ring us on 0207 586 5153. We’ll meet you to talk it through and then put you in for a Data Barring Service check (unless you’ve already had one recently). When that’s complete, we’ll look for someone you would like to be a friend to – and who would like you.
Hopefully, that will be someone that is in easy reach of where you live.
After that, we don’t just leave you to it. There are monthly meetings when you’ll have an opportunity to report on how your new friendship is progressing and, if there are problems, tap into other volunteers’ views and experience.
You’ll get a phone call to remind you of the meeting date and, if you can’t come, we’ll ask for a report that we can relay to the meeting.
We’ll expect you to behave like a friend, not a paid help. So you won’t be doing personal care, cleaning or shopping. On the other hand, if your friend is admitted to a local hospital or moves to a reachable care home, we will look to you to carry on seeing them, even if that’s now a bit more difficult.
VOLUNTEERING TO BEFRIEND:
This kind of volunteering would particularly suit older people or people with a disability who cannot easily pay visits.
It involves making a regular phone call to somebody who is likely to be isolated. The call could be at a particular time or at least on a particular day.
Like the visiting befrienders, you would need to be sympathetic and conscientious. You would also be invited to the monthly meetings and we will provide transport to get you to them. We would phone you once a month to find out how things are going.
BEFRIENDING BY PHONE:
We are always looking for car drivers who can bring guests to our birthday parties and, especially, to our Christmas Day lunch in the Danubius Hotel
GIVING PEOPLE LIFTS IN YOUR CAR:
ACTING AS ESCORT ON OUR MINIBUS OUTINGS:
You can volunteer for:
Regular visits to isolated people
Phoning isolated people for a chat
Driving people to Neighbourcare events in your car
Escorting people on our minibus
See below for further details.
Neighbourcare St John's Wood and Maida Vale
Registered charity number: 1087571
Tel: 0207 586 5153
See our outings page for more details.