South Bucks Royal Osteoporosis Society Support Group
The Royal Osteoporosis Society is committed to helping people with osteoporosis live the lives they want to lead and work every day to prevent future fractures.
The charity has a network of Support Groups which are run by volunteers and meet on a regular basis to offer support and information to people living with osteoporosis their family, friends and carers.
In the Summer of 2017, Rosie King, the Support Group’s treasurer, contacted Community Impact Bucks (CIB) for help in recruiting a volunteer to assist at the organisation’s monthly support group meetings. Consisting of more elderly members, the Support Group was finding it increasingly difficult to move heavy furniture around in preparation for the meetings.
To help Rosie find the support she needed, CIB registered the Support Group with Do-it.org, the national volunteer database, and arranged a free session at the next volunteering advice surgery to discuss the volunteer role in more detail and to suggest ways to advertise it.
After agreeing on the aim of the role and person specification, the Group Help volunteer role was posted on Do-it and led to local Tylers Green resident Ian Holford contacting Rosie and subsequently taking on the role.
Ian ticked all the boxes: running his own business, he was able to commit to a few hours per month to assist the group – primarily to set up tables and chairs but also provide more general support on the day. Being physically fit, he was able undertake tasks that the older members of the Support Group were unable to do safely. The role has also offered Ian a chance to support an issue which was close to his heart as well as to volunteer with older people, something he had done previously, yet fit in with his work and family commitments.
Rosie King, the Support Group’s Treasurer, said: “Ian has made a great difference. Our members are mainly women and we are all elderly so it was becoming impossible to get tables and chairs from the back room safely for each monthly meeting. He is very able, flexible and really joins in – from helping drying up in the kitchen to coming along to our ‘Beetle Drive’ game sessions!
“Talking to Hazel face to face, and Hazel placing the details of the volunteer we needed on the Do-it website via the tablet, has really helped.”
