5 Jun 2025
As part of Volunteers’ Week 2025, we’re celebrating our volunteers as we look to inspire more people to make a difference.
Volunteers week is an annual UK-wide campaign that starts the first Monday of June. Launched in 1984, the campaign aims to celebrate and recognise the contributions of volunteers. Volunteers’ week 2025 allows us the opportunity to thank our volunteers for their incredible efforts.
Did you know that in 2024, £4.6 billion was added in productivity gains for the UK economy? Alongside this, there are many benefits for both the volunteer and the community. Volunteers can build skills, improve their confidence, help others, and gain valuable work experience. Meanwhile, communities benefit from improved wellbeing, a reduction in social isolation, and support for their cause.
In 2023 Paula realised there was a need for support groups in Gainsborough. So she set the ball rolling to start helping people in the community. As a result of her volunteering efforts, Paula has found paid employment as a sessional wellbeing hub support worker at Clip, which is part of Acis Group. Paula’s story shows the benefits of volunteering in our communities, and how volunteering can boost wellbeing.
During the 2020 lockdowns, Paula’s Mum, who has Alzheimer’s, was struggling living on her own. Acis supported Paula to turn her downstairs storage area into a wet room. This meant that Paula could move her Mum in to support her with 24/7 care. As the lockdowns came to an end Paula began to look for support groups in the local area. This was when she met Lorraine, a community connector at Acis Group at the time. Paula and Lorraine discussed the idea of starting a Memory Café called ‘Song and a Sandwich’. The concept of the group came from the evidence that music helps people with cognitive impairments. So Paula and Lorraine started the group in September 2023, with Paula voluntarily leading the weekly sessions. Song and a sandwich gained funding from Shine, and became a regular part of Acis’ community connector events at Clip in Gainsborough.
Today the group now runs under the name Chill, Chat & Connect, with Paula still involved. Paula said “People who are socially isolated, lonely, have medical issues or are older now join the group. It’s grown from being a group for people with cognitive impairments to something for anyone that needs conversation. Sometimes there’s music, bingo, a quiz, sitting and chatting. The team provides what the group asks for.”
From starting these groups as a volunteer, Paula has now come full circle and is paid as a sessional support worker delivering the Chill, Chat & Connect groups on both a Monday and Friday. Speaking about the benefits of volunteering, Paula said:
“Volunteering at these groups helped me as well, because I was able to get my Mum out of the house. I couldn’t find any volunteering opportunities for her as nobody would take her. She looks forward to the groups and they’re the only two days of the week that she’s up and ready to go. Twice a week I don’t need to worry about her, knowing she will be fine and having company relieves a lot of pressure from me.
“Groups like this are important for carers as well because they give them two hours just to take some time for themselves. Volunteering creates a break in the monotony of your week and helps you know one day from another. Being a full-time carer, days can just blur. The group has given me a sense of purpose, I was a carer for foster children and for my mother with Alzheimer’s and I was getting lost in all of that, so it’s given me a sense of purpose and achievement. You need an outlet.
“I love seeing the group members sitting around laughing, even if they are cheating at a game which sometimes happens! Some people in the group rarely see anyone in the week and don’t go out, so this group really helps them.”
Want to get involved?
If you know someone that could benefit from joining Chill, Chat & Connect, or if you want to get involved in volunteering please contact [email protected] to discover more.