It’s National Befriending Week 1-7 November and a chance to celebrate the work that our marvellous Neston Angels befrienders do in the CH64 community. Since 2018, Neston Angels volunteers have provided 3,371 befriending hours to local people. Our youngest volunteer is 14 and our oldest is 89, older than some of the people we support.
Dy is our oldest volunteer, pictured here during a Neston Angels boat trip in May. Dy has been volunteering for Neston Angels for over five years and will be celebrating his 90th next year. By contrast, one of our newest befrienders Mel started in June this year and came into the centre to share her experience of befriending. Mel is 46, a full time commercial manager with two children, and had never volunteered before until joining Neston Angels.
She said, “Becoming a befriender has been better than I thought, it’s been such an easy transition. I came into volunteering to give something back to the community, but I’ve got much more out of it than I thought I would. My befriendee has become a friend already, we’ve found things in common and he’s such a fascinating person who’s led such an interesting life, it’s always fun."
One of the things that Mel highlighted was the wellbeing benefits of volunteering. She said:
"Over the last few years I’ve suffered with stress and anxiety due to family and health issues. Part of my journey back to better health was looking into volunteering and what might fit into my already busy week. Befriending fit in with my commitments, and it has worked. It has helped me feel connected to my community more, and feel like I’m genuinely making a difference. I love visiting. It’s one of the highlights of my week."
Neston Angels has a waiting list of people who would love some extra company and support. If you can spare a couple of hours a week or fortnight, call Zaria the Neston Angels Coordinator on 0151 336 7805 or sign up online.
