Volunteer appeal at Windsor House

A message from Windsor House's Home Manager

Windsor house is looking to recruit a volunteer team to help with residents’ companionship, this is to promote community relationships and tackle loneliness and isolation.

This would include a group of 12 volunteers allocated to each resident in the home. They would interact with the residents through activities, trips out and companionship. In addition, we would love to create a gardening team to assist the residents in creating an accessible and dementia-friendly garden.

Why are we doing this? Alzhimers.co.uk research found that volunteers can provide emotional and social support to people living with dementia and their careers. We have learnt from the pandemic that social interaction from the community, family and friends is necessary for the elderly in residential homes. As Windsor house is a small home with limited staff, sometimes it can be difficult for them to sit down and chat with a resident, take them for a walk or participate in activities in the home.

In a section of a book called “Making Relational Care Work for Older People” by Jenny Kartupelis, they mention how volunteers are a great asset to a home, augmenting staff time, bringing in the ‘outside’, fostering connections with the local community and offering additional skills and interests.

We asked a couple of the residents what they think about having an individual volunteer to accompany them in the home or to take them out for a walk or trip and here are a couple of opinions.

If anyone is interested in volunteering don't hesitate to contact me, Ewan Macdonald, at ewan@millennium-care.co.uk or call 01257 421 325.

Thank You

Ewan Macdonald