Our Volunteer Coordinator Cassie Leicester talks about Volunteering at Age UK Exeter

Hello! My name is Cassie and I am the Volunteer Co-ordinator at Age UK Exeter.

I am responsible for recruiting volunteers into the variety of roles we have in our charity.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our organisation and bring their amazing skills, experience, personality and uniqueness to add an extra spark to the services we offer to older people in Exeter.

We have about 280 volunteers who are involved in all areas of our charity including being on our Board of Trustees, supporting our day services, befriending local older people, refurbishing tools at our Men in Sheds project, maintaining our allotment for people with a dementia, planning fundraising events, counting donations, transporting older clients with memory difficulties and much more.

Simply put, without our volunteers, we wouldn’t be able to help as many older people in Exeter.

I love my role as it means I get to meet a range of local people and learn about them and what they can bring to our charity. I witness them blossom as they build their confidence and develop their skills and see the joy they bring to the older people we work with.

On starting with us all volunteers receive a Volunteers’ Handbook, Induction and training opportunities. Each year we celebrate our wonderful volunteers with a Volunteers’ Party with homemade food, a quiz and other fun activities. All the staff at Age UK Exeter pitch in to make the event really fun and heartfelt.

Our volunteers tell us that they really enjoy the time they spend volunteering with us and getting to know the older people who use our services. They love feeling that they are making a difference and being part of a team. Many of our volunteers have been with us for more than 10 years.

With an ageing population and an increased squeeze on services, we need volunteers now more than ever. If you would like to find out more about volunteering with Age UK Exeter you can browse our volunteer roles on the Volunteering Page of our website or you can contact me on: 01392 202092 or email c.leicester@ageukexeter.org.uk

See all of our volunteering vacancies here.