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- Volunteer Newsletter June 2024
Volunteer Newsletter June 2024
Here is Your TDS Volunteer Newsletter June 2024
Mary Sharples & Simon H
June 07, 2024
In April’s issue ….
Table of Contents
Welcome Message from Mary
Hi, lovely volunteers! We’ve made it to June, which means we are pretty much halfway through 2024. I can’t believe I’ve been at TDS for 6 months already! You’ve all made me feel so welcome, and volunteer co-ordinating is so much easier when the volunteers are as wonderful as you all are. |  Mary |
And on that note – this week has been Volunteer’s Week, a national celebration of volunteers and the amazing contributions they make all over the UK. And you don’t need to tell us twice to shout about how great you are.
We’re so SO grateful to all of you, for all your time and energy, and for your patience, kindness and understanding. We really wouldn’t be Together Dementia Support without you. You are such an important cog in our machine, keeping things moving and our heart beating week in week out. With every tea brewed, wordsearch completed, smile shared and song danced to you make this little corner of the world better and brighter and more hopeful, and somebody feel less alone.
Every day of this job, I have seen so much love and care and passion and commitment in the face of what is quite frankly a big, scary world that so often feels full of doom and gloom. So thank you – for all you continue to do. For your generosity of time, for and for sharing your gifts so freely and willingly with us. What a beautiful community this is. Thank you thank you thank you.
Check out our Volunteer’s Week shout-outs on our social media if you haven’t seen them already – the team picked a few volunteers to name specifically, and thank for their contributions to TDS.
Okay, emotional thank you message officially over! Read on to find out what exciting things are happening this month, and as usual, take care of your precious selves.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 07579831790
Volunteer’s Week Challenge!
We have these absolutely lovely Volunteer Recruitment posters sitting in the office, just waiting to be distributed around Manchester to encourage lots more people to join our amazing volunteer team.
I’ll be putting some A5 posters in each group’s box (ask your Dementia Support Co-ordinator), and if every volunteer could take just one and stick it up in their local cafe, or library, or community centre or place of worship - think how many more people we could reach!
Your challenge, should you choose to accept, is to take a poster and think about where you could put it up in your local community. We’d really really appreciate it!
Gardeners Needed: South Manchester and Amani Centre Groups
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Pictured above are our brand new planters that volunteer Mark very kindly built for our South Manchester group, to go outside The Union Chapel where the group meet. They are higher off the ground, to enable our members to garden more accessibly.
We also have gardening beds at the Amani Centre, where our Monday Moss Side and Thursday Pyaari Yaadein group meet.
However, we are in search of some green-fingered gardening volunteers to support these groups in gardening activities - to share their horticultural wisdom and help our members plant and nurture and grow beautiful things.
Could this be you? Do you know someone with gardening expertise that might like to do a bit of volunteering with us? Are you part of a community allotment or gardening group and can share the opportunity? Do you know somewhere we could put a poster?
Get in touch in touch with me (Mary) if you think you could help, or would like some more info!
TDS 10th Birthday Party: You’re invited!
Get your party pants on, folks - it’s time to come together and celebrate 10 whole years of Together Dementia Support - and we want you there!
We want our whole community to celebrate with us - members, carers, staff, supporters, donors, partners and you, our amazing volunteers. So come on down to the Amani Centre on the 11th July for an early evening meal, dancing and much merriment! Get up and boogie, relax with friends and enjoy a delicious hot Caribbean curry.
Tickets are free, but if you can make a small donation that would be very much appreciated. Your donation will be spent on our services, and won’t be used to cover the cost of the party, which we are paying for ourselves.
Venue: | Date: |
It’s a drop-in event, so don’t worry if you can’t stay for the whole duration - you can come and go as you please!
Reserve your tickets using the button below, by emailing admin@togetherdementiasupport or calling the office on 0161 226 7186.
Volunteering for Together at Home: Simon’s Story
Nick and Simon enjoying their visit to the People’s History Museum
Simon has been a volunteer at our Moss Side group for quite some time, but more recently has become part of our Together At Home volunteer team. He’s been visiting Nick since early April. They enjoy visiting local art galleries and museums together, and talking about music and art. We asked him to share his reflections on the past few months:
What made you want to get involved with Together At Home?
‘Well, after 2 decades of waiting paint dry I was thoroughly bored of being a painter and decorator. The last decorating job I did was for a couple named Mary and Frank - at the time, Frank was attending the Monday group, and Mary suggested I sign up as a volunteer. After failing to complete the sign up form, it was Mary who prompted Together Dementia Support to contact me - which I’m really grateful for. I’m not that outgoing - I’m quite shy, and so the idea of singing and dancing at groups was a little out of my comfort zone. Once I was a group volunteer, Mark (Lead Volunteer at Moss Side) suggested that he thought I’d be really good at home visits, so I signed up for the training.’
How have you found the volunteering process so far?
‘I really appreciated the support I was given by Mary and Jo - I appreciated not being thrown in at the deep end on my own. My first visit there was three of us, then two, then just me and Nick. I was a little anxious, but felt like I phased in. It was a beautiful transition that helped me grow into the role. A year ago, I could never see myself doing this and taking someone out on visits to museums and galleries. It’s not something I thought I could do.’
‘It’s a beautiful start to the week. I feel valued. I feel appreciated.’
What impact is Together At Home having on you?
‘It’s just a great start to the week - having the group on Monday, and then Nick’s visit on Tuesday. It’s a beautiful start to the week. I feel appreciated, and I feel valued. It makes me appreciate life in general, and I feel like I’m learning more and gaining more experience from volunteering than I would from any course available to me.
Nick is such a pleasure to be around. On my first solo visit, he told me how much he had enjoyed our outing and said the kindest compliments about how I was so good at what I do. I left glowing. He is such an intelligent, interesting, kind and talented man and when we’re going round museums it triggers his knowledge. It’s exercising his memory and I’m learning. It enrichs my life, and it’s made me want to learn more about his life. I’ve gone to the library and got books out and researched the things he talks about so I can ask different questions.’
Simon has been an absolute super star - and it’s not just him that enjoys the visits. Caroline, Nick's wife shared that ‘he really looks forward to his ‘Simon days’ every week - the time he spends with Simon is so positive and good for him’.
If you think you’d like to get involved with Together At Home and make a difference like this, then get in touch!
The Growth Company: Support with job hunting and skill development
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Searching for jobs or work experience can be an absolute minefield - navigating job applications and interviews, worrying you don’t have the right experience or skills for your dream job but not knowing where to get it, and picking yourself up when things don’t go to plan. It can often feel like we’re alone in those experiences. If that’s you, then maybe this will be of interest:
We’ve recently built a relationship with The Growth Company, an organisation that support those currently looking for employment, or searching for a bit of support and direction to help you achieve your goals. They run a programme specifically aimed at people in Manchester, aged 19+ who are currently unemployed and looking to take their next steps. They work with individuals at their own pace towards whatever their personal goals are, and offer free one-to-one coaching on all sorts of things:
Wellbeing and Confidence building
Managing finances, budgets and housing
Job searching and career planning
Skills and volunteering experience
Families and relationships
The Growth Company also have a specialised offering for those aged 50+, which includes courses and interventions aimed at this age bracket and the specific challenges they may face. They help people build confidence, learn new skills, and then possibly move into volunteering or employment – whichever is right for the individual.
What The Growth Company offer:
| Who is eligible?
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Learning Opportunity: Carer’s Workshops
In the last newsletter, I highlighted the FutureLearn Foundations in Dementia Course as a good (and free!) learning opportunity, for anyone wanting to develop their understanding and knowledge of Dementia. If you missed that, you can find out more here:
Another learning opportunity is our Carer’s Workshops - these are hour long workshops, led by the TDS team, covering lots of useful content such as:
Changes in Behaviour: Strategies for coping
Meaningful Activities: CBT
Dementia Awareness & Brain Health
These workshops would be ideal for anyone wanting to be more informed about Dementia and the associated behaviors and symptoms, and also how you can support our members better in your role as a volunteer:
An important reminder: register to vote!
You might have caught wind that the UK is holding a General Election on the 4th July…The deadline to register to vote is the 18th June, and it takes less than 5 minutes. If you have moved house since the last local or general election, you need to re-register with your new address.
Other important dates to note are:
19th June: Deadline to apply for a Postal Vote
26th June: Deadline to apply for a Proxy Vote (someone else voting on your behalf if you’re unable to go to a polling station in person)
Don’t miss out on exercising your democratic right to vote - use your vote to bring about a future you want to see.
Our Dementia Support Co-ordinators
 | Jo Brizland-Cullen Together @ Home Project Co-ordinator South Manchester Friendship & Activity Group Fab Forgetful Friends |
 | Shabnam Parveen Pyaari Yaadein Friendship & Activity Group |
 | Anna Hulme Carer Support Co-ordinator Dementia Cafés Carer Training |
 | Beth Langworthy Carer Support Co-ordinator ‘Games for The Brain’ Friendship & Activity Group |
 | Martine Noë Dementia Support Co-ordinator Wythenshawe Group North Manchester Group |
 | Mary Sharples Volunteer and Dementia Support Co-ordinator East Manchester Friendship & Activity Group |
Our Dementia Support Workers
 | Mike Taylor Wythenshawe Friendship & Activity Group Walk & Talk - Alexandra Park North Manchester Friendship & Activity Group |
 | Daphney Thompson Together @ Home Support Worker |
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