Our volunteers are the body of the work. They sit beside our residents on Wednesday afternoons; they turn the compost heap in March; they swap a tote bag of paperbacks on the last Tuesday of the month; they write quiet letters to donors. None of the roles is glamorous. All of them matter.
Volunteers must be 18 or over. We ask all volunteers to complete a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check at our expense, and to attend one half-day of safeguarding induction before they begin. Where the role requires it (befriending in particular), we also ask volunteers to sit in on one of our Wednesday tea afternoons before a pairing is made. None of this is a hurdle; it is how we look after both our residents and you.
Team lead: Reverend Harvey Gibbons.
Where: the resident's home, on Beatrice Street.
What: a regular visit at a fixed hour. Tea, conversation, perhaps a letter to be written or a parcel to be unwrapped. Nothing more is asked.
We are particularly looking for befrienders with quiet hours in the afternoon and patience for slow conversations. Two of our current pairings have been in place for nine years.
Team lead: Thomas (gardener since 2017).
Where: the walled garden behind Eure's Row.
What: weeding the long flower border, mulching the apple step, mending the cold frame, turning the compost, and drinking quite a lot of tea.
No experience required. Thomas takes the same view of a beginner as the garden does of a sapling: he gives them time and a quiet corner.
Team lead: Brighid Carey, trustee.
Where: all ten almshouses.
What: swap last month's books for this month's, listen to what has been read, write a short list in the borrowing book. The walk takes about two hours, with several pots of tea.
Especially welcome: volunteers who themselves read widely. Reading aloud to a resident, if invited, is part of the role.
Team lead: Jonathan Andrew Upton, treasurer.
Where: from your own kitchen table.
What: writing short, handwritten thank-you letters to donors of the Eure's Row Roof Appeal. We supply the cards, the donor list, and the postage.
This is an excellent role for anyone who finds the idea of a public-facing role too much, but who would like to support the work. Around twenty letters a quarter.
We ask volunteers to keep their commitments — these are quiet but they are real. A resident left waiting at a tea-time appointment can have a long, hard afternoon. If you cannot make a session, please write or telephone in advance.
We do not ask volunteers to fundraise, to canvas, to recruit, to be photographed, or to give a quotation to a newspaper. Volunteering at the Eure and Smale Charity is, on purpose, an unglamorous role.
If any of the four roles above speaks to you, please complete the form below. A trustee will write to you within five working days from the Beatrice Street office. We may invite you to attend a Wednesday tea afternoon as your first step; we may telephone to ask a few quiet questions; we will not, on any account, ask you for money.
We are a small charity. We do not pay volunteer expenses as a matter of course, but we will reimburse out-of-pocket costs — petrol on a long visit, postage for the Repair Fund Correspondent — by arrangement with the treasurer. Please ask; do not subsidise the trust silently.
