Celebrating Volunteers' Week 2024

In celebration of Volunteers' Week 2024, Age UK Wandsworth shines a light on our own inspiring volunteers and the invaluable work they do to help us in our mission to 'Help Wandsworth Age Well'.

June 3rd - 9th 2024 marks the 40th anniversary of Volunteers' Week, an annual event celebrating the amazing contributions volunteers make to communities across the UK. Every year hundreds of activities are organised across the UK to mark this event and show appreciation for volunteers. Age UK Wandsworth will be celebrating its own amazing volunteers with a special Volunteer Appreciation Party, where we'll be providing snacks, drinks and bingo with prizes as a token of our appreciation for all their hard work and dedication this year. 

Why Volunteer?

As well as being of enormous benefit to others, volunteering has been shown to improve the mental health and wellbeing of volunteers too. Along with learning new skills and gaining valuable work experience, volunteering provides opportunities to make new friends, build confidence, and 'give back' - which in turn leads to increased feelings of wellbeing. Put simply, when we make others feel good, we feel good too!

Here's what one of our wonderful volunteers, Emma, had to say about her experience of helping out in our specialist MCST dementia group:

"From the very first week, I have felt so welcomed. I always learn something, always leave smiling and thoroughly enjoy the time I spend volunteering. It's been great for me to have the chance to come from my normal (often quite solitary!) desk job to do something completely different, and be a small part of something that I consider to be so valuable. I couldn't recommend volunteering with Age UK Wandsworth highly enough!" 

Our Volunteers

Our volunteers come from many diverse backgrounds, representing all sections of our community. Some bring career skills, while others bring life skills gained through experience. All bring the warmth of their hearts and a genuine desire to help. We appreciate each and every one of them for giving up their time to support us in delivering the services we provide to older people in Wandsworth.

The impact our volunteers have on people's lives cannot be underestimated. Watch the video below to see the impact Befriending volunteer Johnny had on the life of Wandsworth resident Jean.

How can I get involved?

If you are interested in becoming an Age UK Wandsworth volunteer and would like to know more about our current roles or how to apply, please click on the button below to see full details on our website. We look forward to hearing from you and welcoming you into our team!