Volunteers’ Week: A big thank you from the Board of Trustees

 

Volunteers make a fantastic contribution to Carers Leeds every week of the year, with Volunteers’ Week providing a timely opportunity to recognise all that they do and say a big thank you from all of us!

We currently have 41 active volunteers at Carers Leeds, 7 of these are Trustees and some of our volunteers do multiple roles. This year we are celebrating long service volunteer’s anniversaries. These include: 5 years, 10 years, and 15 years (including anniversaries we missed during 2020 and 2021), which is a wonderful achievement.

Volunteers have so many different roles across Carers Leeds and we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without them! I love hearing about the work of our befrienders, who offer a supportive, reliable relationship to a carer who would otherwise be socially isolated or our carers groups volunteers who help ensure there is a safe and supportive space for carers to meet.

Then there are the volunteer administrators who ensure carers receive a warm welcome or help with the smooth running of things behind the scenes. Some of our volunteers make welfare calls to carers to check in on how they are doing and we also have volunteer evaluators who follow up with carers to get feedback on the service we provide.

On a personal level, myself and the other trustees know how rewarding volunteering can be from our volunteering role – we appreciate and value all that our volunteers bring to Carers Leeds.

Whether volunteers have been a regular volunteer for a long time or have taken up some of the bitesize volunteering opportunities at Carers Leeds, such as proofreading, we really appreciate all they do! I know volunteering can be a hugely rewarding experience, but it is the impact volunteers make on the service we provide and ultimately on carers lives that really counts, which is immeasurable.

Andy Rawnsley, Chair of the Board