News - Page 39 of 46 - Rotherham Federation

Friendship Calls Volunteer – Sarah

Laura/ 1st December 202014th April 2023/ Friendship Calls

I saw the Rotherham Hero’s programme adver-tised in the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic and instantly felt that sense of inclusivity and ca-maraderie that I believe ultimately underpins our community; I applied to join as a volunteer tele-phone befriender immediately and loved every minute of it. The application process was simple and well executed, and I was pleased to receive a telephone induction and useful reference docu-ments that helped me fulfil my duties. As well as this though, the continual online and telephone support from the RotherFed team really helped me to feel like a part of something bigger, like a valued part of that community. As for the be-friending role itself, it has been a privilege to take part in the scheme, and to chat each week with people who I knew would benefit in some small way from hearing a friendly voice at the end of the telephone, as I in turn benefitted from hearing theirs’. Thanks again for the opportunity to volun-teer with the befriending team, I feel very fortu-nate to have taken part in the scheme.
Best wishes, Sarah

Friendship Call Participant

Laura/ 1st December 202014th April 2023/ Friendship Calls

One of our volunteers had been out and about with his wife and stopped to see that a gentleman on the kerb had just had a nasty fall. He immediately went to help and called an ambulance, in the meantime another ambulance passing was flagged down. The crew assisted at the scene and it was when they asked the gentleman’s name that the volunteer found out he was one of our service users who he had supported in the past. This gent has memory problems, and the ambulance crew at the scene recommended it was probably quicker for the volunteer to take him to hospital – which he did. And once there because of the support he had given in the past to this gent the volunteer was able to give the medical team more details on him.

Friendship Call Participant

Laura/ 1st December 202014th April 2023/ Friendship Calls

We had a major breakthrough with someone we are keeping in touch with. She has very complex mental health issues and due to her lifestyle choices is often ridiculed, pointed at and attacked when she goes out. She started to talk to me about this today, and is now starting to share how she feels and how people are with her. After speaking with her mental health team, this is a massive breakthrough.

Dinnington SEND Group

Laura/ 20th November 202031st August 2023/ Good News Stories

By Ian Huddleston, Community Organiser

Dinnington SEND group are a group for young people who are very active in the community, providing support for many families in and around Dinnington. I met with Jo from the group in early March to look at ways in which we could work together and to try organising events for their young people.

Ferham Community Group

Laura/ 20th November 202020th November 2020/ Good News Stories

By Dan Barron, Community Organiser

Since May, I had been supporting Kadeer, who is a community leader from Ferham to engage with the community both physical and virtually. Initially, Kadeer was looking to create a constituted group. We were able to support Kadeer in understanding what was needed and searching for others who wanted to join over several weeks. This included several organisational structures as Kadeer’s daughter was also considering becoming a Community Interest Company. I was able to advise Kadeer about the current COVID guidelines regarding activities, when he was very actively coordinating litter picks within the area.

A Reason to Like Mondays Group

Laura/ 20th November 202020th November 2020/ Good News Stories

By Dan Barron, Community Organiser

I have been lucky enough to be able to support the A Reason to Like Mondays (ARTLM) throughout the pandemic with several activities. The group are based in East Dene, St James Church room and they offer help, support and advice to parents and full-time carers of children pre-birth to 18. The group offer somewhere for people to go once their children are at school or if they are a full-time mum. St James Church offers a place where they can relax, have a chat or even a rant about what is going on in their life. Since COVID19 restrictions were implemented in May, the group have consistently provided a virtual coffee morning, which have totalled 21 sessions to date. The group have adapted to the pandemic and continued to engage with their group members via online coffee mornings. The virtual coffee morning is averagely attended by 3-5 members every Monday morning via zoom and the online Facebook page has 65 members who it is supporting.

Dinnington Coronavirus Community Action Group

Laura/ 20th November 202031st August 2023/ Good News Stories

By Ian Huddleston, Community Organiser

In March, the country went into lockdown due to coronavirus pandemic. This put a lot of strain on the local community of Dinnington and left a lot of residents lonely and isolated. A group of residents put out Facebook posts to assemble a team of people who could work together as a committee to try and tackle these issues to help those residents most in need.

East Herringthorpe Friends of Green Spaces

Laura/ 20th November 202020th November 2020/ Good News Stories

By Rob, Gooding, Community Organiser

Led by Natalie from the East Herringthorpe Litter pickers, the group has brought together members from other East Herringthorpe groups such as the cemetery clean up and the local history group. The aim is to create a large group focused around improving green spaces in East Herringthorpe. The group already has around 18 residents involved with them and is hoping to grow this over the next year. Natalie said: “I was tired of looking out of my flat at rubbish in my neighbourhood so decided to do something about it.”

Mowbray Musers

Laura/ 20th November 202031st August 2023/ Good News Stories, Rother Vale

By Dan Barron, Community Organiser

The Mowbray Musers are initially started as an in-person group in the Mowbray Gardens Library in February 2020. The aim was to form a group of friends would all sit and talk about creative writing, play some literature games, and show off their works in progress to friends for feedback. To allow people the opportunity to write in-between meetings, they planned to hold their meets, fortnightly at 12 noon on the first and third Tuesday of each month. The group were able to hold just two, in person meetings before the country went into lockdown.

Silverwood Colliery Group

Laura/ 20th November 20205th June 2023/ Good News Stories

By Rob Gooding, Community Organiser

Over the last year the Silverwood group have continued to grow and thrive, the group have an active Facebook page with 568 people to date. They regularly engaging with the page, with posts about memories from life down the pit to ways the area could be improved. A key aim of the group is to bring back the old pit community spirit in the area.