Charity pays tribute to its team of wonderful volunteers

Volunteers donate more than 10,000 hours each year to Age Cymru

Age Cymru is this week paying tribute to each of its fantastic volunteers who, between them, donate more than 10,000 hours each year to the charity.

Most of the volunteers lead community based activities such as Nordic Walking, Tai Chi and our specialist Low Impact Functional Training, for older people including those with limited mobility. Other volunteers provide valuable support in our offices and shops across Wales

Volunteering can provide people with opportunities to develop new skills, make new friends and sometimes help them to get back into the workplace. For others, volunteering can help develop a sense of purpose to their lives and enable them to give something valuable back to their community.

Age Cymru's chief executive Victoria Lloyd says: "Volunteers make a huge contribution to the work of Age Cymru, helping us to spread our reach and engage with more people than might otherwise be the case. It never ceases to amaze me when I see how much work our volunteers put into their roles in so many different ways to provide the best possible service to older people.

"We're also grateful for the fact that many of our volunteers are older people themselves and are often better able to make a positive difference to the lives of people we support in our everyday work."

So as it is Volunteers Week it seems fitting that we pay tribute to our team of fantastic volunteers and all the work you do in communities across Wales."

To read inspirational stories about our volunteers and how volunteering has made a difference to them, visit www.agecymru.org.uk/volunteersweek

For more information about volunteering with Age Cymru call Gavin Thomas on 029 2043 1555.

Case Study

Tracy Davies, Volunteer Instructor in Tai Chi

I wanted to volunteer in some capacity following my retirement but it had to be the right role. I wanted an element of caring and improvement and was struggling to find something that would suit. I had also had an interest in Tai Chi. So when I saw an advert from Age Cymru looking for volunteers to teach Tai Chi I knew I had found exactly what I wanted.

As well as introducing me to Tai Chi which I find beneficial for me personally, learning something completely different and continuing to learn has been mentally stimulating. It's also added some structure to my week following retirement. I get joy from teaching older people how to do something new and hearing the positive feedback from them about how they have benefited from Tai Chi has been lovely. I have met lots of lovely ladies through my volunteering. I really love practising Tai Chi and I am continually trying to expand my knowledge and learning on the practice.

If anyone is thinking about becoming a volunteer, my advice would be to spend some time finding your niche but in that I don't mean doing something that you are familiar with, be adventurous, think outside the box, as long as it encompasses your values, I don't think you can go wrong. I think this is important as if you don't enjoy it you won't continue. Other than that I would highly recommend volunteering.

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