Page 33 - Phonebox Magazine June 2024

Bob at Emmaus repairs clocks The FOLIO team at Olney Library The Mead Centre at Newport Pagnell
“I want to thank you for taking me as a volunteer ... You guys are some of the most optimistic people and have motivated me so much.”
This can be by joining our Management Team or our ‘Friends Group’ and, for example: showing prospects around the building, opening and closing the building for weekend children’s parties, helping out with our annual ‘spring clean’, some decorating or cleaning the carpets, or by carrying out ad hoc repairs and maintenance on the building.
For more information contact: trevoraldred@yahoo.co.uk
Emmaus House
Emmaus Village Carlton supports up to 42 men and women who have experienced homelessness by giving them a home and work opportunities in their social enterprise
• Supporting our eBay team with all aspects of selling items online, including packing items for delivery
• Supporting our bistro team with front-of- house service and/or food prep
• Supporting one of our specialist warehouse teams such as electrical testing, bike repairs or clock repairs
• Companion Support roles, such as literacy, numeracy, language skills, employability skills, or supporting wellbeing activities, trips and outings
All volunteer roles can be flexible with time slots to suit individual volunteers. We ask that volunteers are ideally available for at least one shift per week, usually a morning or afternoon. If you’d like to offer us some of your skills and
at the heart of the community, not only by staffing the desk but also through offering a programme of activities for all user groups. They include monthly talks for adults and the children’s activities are Saturday StoryTime and Craft and Lego Clubs. We also link with local schools, fund raise, and organise an annual Christmas pantomime and a kids’ activity area over BOFF weekend.
If you would like to join us or find out more,
email: olneyfoliofriends@gmail.com.
The Mead Centre
Located in the centre of Newport Pagnell (opposite Superdrug), the Mead Centre was opened two years ago. Its success very much
of three shops and a bistro and with the site management team.
The charity gives formerly homeless people, known by the charity as companions, an opportunity to regain lost self-esteem and help rebuild their lives. It also has additional move-on rooms for people preparing to live independently.
The charity relies heavily on its wonderfully dedicated team of volunteers who assist with everything from stocking its shops to gardening and mending donated clocks and bicycles to supporting companions with literacy and language skills.
Volunteering is a great way to learn new skills and meet new people at the same time as helping your local community and supporting the Emmaus ethos.
The charity’s volunteers work alongside companions and staff, sharing activities and responsibilities and helping to build our social enterprise together. All our volunteers receive a special 20% discount in our three on-site shops. Our volunteer roles include:
• RetailandWarehouseassistants-helpingto receiveandsortdonations,priceitems,stock shops,includingpromotingGiftAidsignupto customers
experience, or if you’d like to learn new skills in a volunteer role, please get in touch via email: office@emmausvc.org.
Folio
Friends of Olney Library (Folio) Volunteers is celebrating eight years of unbroken service. It started in November 2015 when Olney Library was under threat of having to reduce its opening hours. When the library assistant left, the librarian was going to have to close the library for half an hour twice a week so that he could have a lunch break. Fortunately, a handful of volunteers stepped in to cover him so that the library could remain open. Since then, the team of volunteers who staff the library desk every Tuesday morning and Thursday afternoon has expanded to 18, and has over eight years of unbroken volunteer service. They’ll help you find and reserve a book, use the Library Self Service or photo-copying machines, book on a Folio-led activity or signpost you to further help. In addition, they assist our Lead Library Assistant, Tracy by shelving books, supporting library-wide schemessuchasBookTrustStorytime,andthe Summer Reading Challenge.
Today Folio has a total of 30 volunteers who all play an important part in keeping the library
depends on the incredible support of all the volunteers, who are the beating heart of this community centre.
Our volunteers create a vibrancy throughout the building, their enthusiasm and commitment is evident as soon as you walk through the doors. Skills are varied, yet each is as important as each other, to ensure the smooth running of the Centre and the welcome offered to visitors.
Since coming together, our volunteers have developed and run a wide range of activities, including the use of the unique Sensory Room for children and adults, Time 4 Everyone, a drop-in held every Thursday morning, the monthly Repair Café for mending broken items rather than throwing them away, the popular weekly Community Larder, which helps reduce food waste, and our gardening team who tackle weeds with a smile. Volunteers Week is a great opportunity to say a big thank you to all our volunteering stars, while also inviting new people to come along and get involved. Please pop in to meet us, youwillreceiveaverywarmwelcome.
For more details visit: www.themeadcentre. co.uk.June 2024 | Phonebox Magazine 33