'˜Thank you' party held for Age UK's volunteers

115 people currently volunteer for Age UK Horsham District and to thank all these wonderful people for everything they do, Age UK Horsham District invited them to their Lavinia House premises for a fun, informal afternoon filled with cream teas, Pimm’s, a quiz, a thank you raffle and live jazz, performed by Peter Godfrey’s Jazz Quartet.

Jane Strong, Home Service Manager for Age UK Horsham District said: “Without our volunteers we couldn’t run the extensive range of services we currently provide. Almost immediately after joining Age UK Horsham District last year I became aware of the fantastic work that our volunteers do such as helping at Clubs, visiting older people in their homes, helping with our Home from Hospital service, administrative functions and fundraising events across the District. The Board of Trustees are also all volunteers who give their time for the charity.”

On arrival, volunteers were welcomed with a glass of Pimm’s and a lucky thank you raffle ticket. During the afternoon staff served the volunteers cream teas. After Tea, groups of volunteers were encouraged to put their heads together to take part in a quiz and towards the end of the afternoon the thank you raffle was drawn. This was a free raffle organised by Age UK Horsham District staff as a token of appreciation of their volunteers. A number of local businesses had kindly donated prizes for the raffle and 14 lucky tickets were drawn at random.

Jane added: “We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of those who helped us make this event possible by donating prizes for our special thank you raffle and those who donated their services for free, including; Special Creations by Jane, Waterstone’s Horsham, Carmela’s Restaurant Horsham, Wimblehurst Chocolates Horsham, Samuel Parker Horsham, John Lewis at Home Horsham, Beauty Secrets Horsham, La Source Horsham, Non-Stop Party Shop Horsham, The Balloon Company, Oslo.”

Age UK Horsham District supports older people in the local area with the aims of tackling loneliness and social isolation, improving access to services and financial support and generally helping older people to love later life.

An example of one of the services that simply couldn’t operate without the support of volunteers is the Home-Visiting Service. 46 volunteers from across the District gave the equivalent of 2,132 hours to this service last year. Volunteers visit those who are socially isolated or housebound, in their own homes for a cup of tea and a chat, or if the weather is nice they may sit in the garden or go for a walk. The aim of this vital service is to provide social contact for isolated older people, let them know about other services they may find helpful and feedback any concerns around their safety or wellbeing to Age UK Horsham District’s Volunteer Co-ordinator.

Age UK Horsham District are always looking for more volunteers to support their services, and would welcome any donations or raffle prizes. They would also welcome any ideas and support for fundraising. If you would like to help please contact Age UK Horsham District on 01403 260560 or [email protected], details can also be found on their Facebook page www.facebook.com/AgeUKHorshamDistrict or follow them on twitter @AgeUKHorshamD