Volunteer of the month is when we get to shout about our amazing volunteers and the, quite literally, life changing work they do to help Fresh Futures run smoothly and effectively.
This month we would like to say a big THANK YOU to Patricia Hastead who has been volunteering at Fresh Futures since May 2022 as a Community Friend.
We caught up with Patricia to hear about her Fresh Futures Volunteering journey so far…
How long have you been volunteering for the charity? Since May 2022.
Tell us a bit about yourself: I am now retired but was a primary school teacher for many years before having a complete change of employment and working for a friend’s mystery shopping company.
Tell us about your volunteering role: I visit my friend every Monday for about two hours. On cold or wet days we stay inside and chat but during the summer we sit outside in the garden. Every four to six weeks we go out for lunch and we are always looking for new places to try. I now feel that each week I am going to see a friend and look forward to the visit.
What made you want to start volunteering with Fresh Futures? Programmes about loneliness in people of all ages were often on television and when I saw the advert for volunteers to train as befrienders I thought this was how I could do a little to help.
