Before coming to Volunteer Edinburgh, Katie who is visually impared, lived with her parents. She rarely left the house, and never did on her own. Her physical disability and a history of epilepsy had left her with anxiety and low confidence.
Although going to see the team at Volunteer Edinburgh was a big step it was one she made with the help of her Community Psychiatric Nurse. Volunteer Edinburgh worked with Katie to find out what her interests were, helped her understand what she could do and explore possible volunteering opportunities.
Volunteer Edinburgh helped Katie secure a role as a play volunteer at a creche supporting women who were experiencing post-natal depression. Now volunteering regularly, Katie’s confidence built and soon she was not only self-travelling but had also started an additional volunteering role at an older people’s lunch club. Katie’s skill and enthusiasm was recognised and she took up the role of lead volunteer. This volunteering directly led her to getting a part-time paid job!
Katie’s still volunteering, making a huge difference to the people she supports. She’s moved out of her parents’ house and now lives with her partner and hopes to get married and start a family of her own and has been away twice on holiday last year - something that she had never done before. By volunteering, feeling needed, feeling more confident and building a more independent life for herself, Katie no long need the help of Mental Health Services.
Martyn was referred to Volunteer Edinburgh by his Social Worker. Martyn had struggled for many years with substance abuse which had led to offending.
Unable to get work and suffering from depression and anxiety, Martyn’s Social Worker suggested he might want to think about volunteering. Because of his offending history Martyn was concerned that no one would want to take him on as a volunteer.
With decades of experience of working with people, with sometimes complex offending histories, Volunteer Edinburgh was able to guide him through the process, advocate for him and ultimately secure a role as a volunteer dog walker.
Volunteering gave Martyn a new focus and a new purpose. It has helped him remain abstinent and his mental health has improved. Martyn’s confidence and self-worth has grown and he has once again been able to see that he has a future and that he is not defined by his history. He has started to explore getting back into paid employment using the skills he has built up through volunteering.
Michelle had experienced Bipolar disorder for most of her life. This has led to repeated self-harming. She also had to have a kidney and pancreas transplant.
She was referred to Volunteer Edinburgh by her Community Psychiatric Nurse and through us found a role as Hospital Shop Volunteer. Michelle thrived in this new role and with a renewed sense of capability she took up an additional volunteer role delivering talks on wellbeing and self-care. Recognising that her experience could help others she set up and now co-facilitates a volunteer led peer support group.
A couple of years ago Michelle received an award for being an inspiring self-management ambassador because of her volunteering and how she’d used her experience to inspire others to volunteer as part of their recovery. As Michelle says herself “Volunteering is the most important thing in my recovery toolkit. I wouldn't be as happy or secure as I am now without my volunteering jobs."
Joel had been struggling. Mental Health problems and a diagnosis of ADHD had led to some very risky behavious; addiction, getting into fights, a risk of serious offending and worryingly he was not good at understanding risks and his own vulnerability and the risk he faced of exploitation and abuse. At home things were not much better. The relationship with his mum was peppered with his agression, verbal and sometimes physical abuse. Neither of them were coping and Joel was facing potential homelessness.
Joel's Social Worker referred him to Volunteer Edinburgh, but the biggest hurdle was to try and get him to engage. A volunteer Buddy met with Joel and supported him to engage and to help him volunteer to do some practical tasks at Volunteer Edinburgh on a semi regular basis as a stepping stone.
Once more established Joel was linked in with a volunteer role at a museum. There he was mentored by on one of the other volunteers, a retired Fireman. Joel benefited from a postitive male role model who "took no nonsense" and challenged inapproriate behaviour.
Joel is still volunteering regularly at the museum and relationships at home have stablised.
“My journey has not been straightforward. I was first hospitalised in 1990, spending four years as an inpatient at the Royal Edinburgh. It was there I was introduced to the world of volunteering and with help from you and your team I was able to be discharged from hospital and find opportunities to give something back while finding purpose, routine, confidence and a community of people who accepted me vulnerable and broken as I was from being traumatised and mentally ill.”
“There were many setbacks as I tried hard to find the right fit with my volunteering, with years of revolving door hospital admissions, relapses and even suicide attempts when things didn’t work out. But never once did you give up on me or my dream of living a purposeful life in the community. I needed a lot of help from you to keep me back on the wagon and source new roles to which I might be more suited. It was a painstaking process of trial and error which has taken three decades to get me to the point where I am now, discharged from psychiatric services, and – though far from being symptom free, I am able to care for myself.”
Because of the severity of my illness I have been advised by my medical team which experience has borne out in various attempts over the years that I will never manage in a paid job. But, I have a sense of pride , nonetheless, in knowing that I’ve always contributed through volunteering and I have worked hard to recover a decent quality of life – now free of psychiatric input. I attribute this success in large part to commitment and support I’ve always had from you to volunteer and feel valued”
At 17 James was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was working and with the help of medication he continued to do so, but normal work stress exacerbated his illness and the medications used to help his condition came with side effects and left home exhausted. Eventually James had to give up work.
“I’ve proved that being diagnosed with a serious condition is not the end of the world. You can turn it around. Jesus saved my life but Volunteer Edinburgh has been vital to my recovery and where I am now.”
“I thought that was my life finished, I just stayed at home with my mum and dad.”
Following the death of his parents, and suffering from nerve damage caused by years of taking medication James decided to come off his medication.
“It’s all very well being better, healed from your mental health problems,” he says, “but I needed something to do.”
Through Volunteer Edinburgh James secured “his dream job” as a passenger escort at a local community centre a role that he did for 12 years.
“I found, much to my surprise, that I was really good at it. I feel like I was created to do it.”
“I never went back to paid employment, but I’ve lived on my own since my father died in the 1990s, and contributed to society.
“It has been way beyond what I thought was possible. It has been like a career in volunteering. I like to help people – it’s good.”
“My life is a complete success when you think what the outlook was, according to my medical file. From the late 1970s onwards, it looked like the doctors didn’t have a lot of hope for me. But they were proved completely wrong.
“There’s a bit of satisfaction in that. But it makes me wonder how many people have been written off and haven’t had the experience I’ve had.
“It’s very easy to just stay in the house and see nobody, and that would have led to even worse mental health problems. But through volunteering I have made a great network of friends.
“I can’t believe how responsible, efficient and confident I have become after all these years of agony and illness. When my mum died in 1988 she feared I could never look after myself.
“Even simple things like going out shopping were really hard. But volunteering gave me a routine and got me mixing with other people.
“It makes me sad that my parents didn’t get to see me like this. They only really saw me when I was very ill.”
Robert lives with his parents who are both deaf/blind and who have learning disabilities. Robert, who himself has an autism diagnosis had never been anywhere other than school or home, he had never even been on a bus. He had very little spoken language and left school with no qualifications and no destination.
Robert was referred to Volunteer Edinburgh by Skills Development Scotland and after initially meeting with us to explore what he was interested in and what support he might need, Robert was allocated a volunteer Buddy to help him to start volunteering at a community garden project. His Buddy helped him navigate how to use buses and supported him when when he was spoken to, something that he found very difficult to deal with. Robert's confidence grew and eventually he was confident to go to his volunteering on his own. A huge step forward!
Six months in and now independently volunteering he is chatting away with collegues and attending social events at the community garden. His next ambition is to attend college.
The concept of Community Taskforce Volunteers (CTV) is deceptively simple: match the willing to the need. Born of our pandemic response, to meet an urgent demand, this service has evolved over the years to become a vital support structure for Edinburgh. Our CTVs help stop people from "falling between the gaps".
CTVs provide a unique, person centred support where no family, friends or available support exists. We support regardless of age, location or ability to pay. CTV comes from a very basic premiss – that people want to help others. Our CTV programme just makes that happen in a safe and structured way.
Since 2020 our CTVs have delivered over 17,000 tasks - an average of 274 per month, 62 per week, 9 per day.
- We supported a client undergoing cancer treatment, and with no support structures, by removing two unwanted sofas which were preventing safe movement around their home for kerb-side for uplift. A problem solved.
- We have supported numerous individuals during cancer and other treatment by walking their dog. Simple task, big impact.
- We supported one client helping her work thorough her paperwork, enabling her put her affairs in order while she was alone and undergoing treatment for a serious illness. A worry removed.
- We helped a client who was at end of life sort through her belongings, easing her anxiety. A burden shared.
- For one client who had been hospitalised after a fire, her discharge to temporary accommodation was facilitated early because our volunteer was able to provide companionship and support in her new home until carers arrived.
- One client had spent six months in the hospital recovering from a mugging, including multiple broken bones. On her discharge, our CTVs trimmed her overgrown hedge, restoring the view of her surroundings and sense of normality.
Following a referral from a CPN, we helped a female client who was fearful of crossing the road to go to a local park each week, to enjoy a cycle as part of the Thistle Foundation cycling project https://www.thistle.org.uk/thistle-outdoors. Our CTV accompanies her across the road and ensures she is safe and settled, often stopping for a cuppa in the café too. For the client this is highlight of her week and she is overjoyed with the support of a volunteer, and being able to do this fundamentally improves her health and well-being. Another simple task with a huge impact.
With your support we can continue to help some of the most vulnerable people in the city with our unique service!
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