A real sense of community

Older people talk about the heritage and community spirit of the borough and how proud they are of this, despite recent events. Older people support this sense of community to stay alive in Rotherham in many practical ways — giving their time and energy to others.

As carers for each other, friends and relatives, grandchildren etc. they help to support their families and some of the most vulnerable local people.

And as volunteers in many voluntary and community organisations they are the backbone of making sure that local groups, clubs and services run. In turn these benefit lots of people of all ages in communities across the whole of Rotherham.

As a local charity working for older people in Rotherham we at Age UK Rotherham are only able to sustain our range of services with the support of local volunteers who give us over 1,000 hours of unpaid time each year.  

Many of these volunteers are older people themselves — some are still fit and well but others still find the time and energy to support other people even though they have their own health problems and challenges.  

Take 95-year-old Minna, who is partially sighted and has very restricted mobility. Despite this she is an active member of one of our Fit for the Future Groups, giving other members fascinating talks about her youth and telling stories about Rotherham.

Her story telling sessions have proved so popular with other members of the group that ‘reminiscence sessions’ have become a regular feature of their meetings. In return the group have made larger print versions of games they use so that Minna can see and take part in the fun!

As well as helping others, older volunteers find volunteering very rewarding and gain things themselves such as a renewed sense of purpose and usefulness, new friends, new skills and new uses for their knowledge and experience.  

“As a befriending volunteer I enjoy listening and hearing the individual life stories from the people I visit. After visiting I often come away with the feeling that I have enjoyed the visit and made someone a lot less lonely,” said Graham, aged 67.

“I have met a lot of nice people and made lots of new friends through volunteering.  My social life has increased and I really enjoy this along with the befriending visits and caring,” Brenda, aged 60

Age UK Rotherham celebrates its 30th Anniversary this year as more older people are living longer so our services and support are needed more than ever. We are proud of the work we do and also of the many volunteers and other organisations we work with that support our aim for people to have a good later life here in Rotherham.

For more information about the work of Age UK Rotherham and how to get involved contact us on 01709 835214 or visit www.ageuk.org.uk/rotherham