RSVP is the only national body that provides volunteering opportunities for the over-50s | ||
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COMMUNITY WORK |
HELPING IN THE COMMUNITY As a snapshot of the range of community work with which RSVP becomes involved, that in North Somerset is typical. ![]() Vic Rawlings The RSVP Area Organiser is Vic Rawlings. He says: “Much of the work that RSVP West does hard to classify because it’s so diverse, but it can be summed up by the phrase community care. It usually involves a volunteer helping somebody, often an elderly person, on a one-to-one basis. “Providing transport is an especially valuable job — as just one example, we have one 93-year-old man whom we take to the shops every couple of weeks and every fortnight we drive a lady suffering from multiple sclerosis to her clinic in Nailsea. A volunteer might take a person out on a day visit from their nursing home for shopping or just a change of scene to some interesting place, or collect prescriptions for a housebound person.
“Social services often ask us to assist with DIY, even simple things like changing light
![]() RSVP West volunteer Ian with staff at “It’s small-scale work that sounds like nothing very special, but to a person in need it makes a great deal of difference. A small time donation from a volunteer is often invaluable, and it’s a great pity that so few people know how much a small regular contribution of time can improve their neighbours’ lives.” © 2003–08 RSVP West. Page last updated on 10 March 2008. |
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Gentle Activity Project: next training courses scheduled for April and May. OUR AREA RSVP West covers Bristol, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire, Bath & North East Somerset, and Swindon & north-west Wiltshire. ABOUT RSVP WEST The Friends of RSVP West Region is a local registered charity (No 1108785), which has no salaried staff: everyone involved is a volunteer, including the trustees and management committee. Nationally, RSVP is a project of Community Service Volunteers (CSV), a company limited by guarantee and registered in England (No 1435877), and a registered charity (No 291222). |