Brighton: SVP hold Volunteer Day at community centre

Doreen and her carer daughter Karen

On Tuesday, 4 June, the St Vincent de Paul Society (SVP) held a Volunteers' Day at its community centre for older people in Preston Park, Brighton. The centre, called Tower House, runs a memory café, activity groups, and provides lunches to its guests, mostly people with cognitive decline, and their carers.

SVP volunteers Peter Cropp and his wife Jo have several decades worth of voluntary experience between them and were influential in the establishment of the centre. As part of their work as SVP members Peter and Jo visit isolated people in their own homes, befriending and helping them emotionally and practically.

Peter said: "With so many people we visited needing companionship and being stuck at home, too frail to go out, we thought why not establish a Centre where people can come together and talk and make friends with each other."

Jo said: "Tower House Community Centre allows the people we visit as SVP members to meet one another face to face. They often swap phone numbers, and friendships are borne. Sometimes we get referrals from agencies, and other times from hospital discharge teams."

Doreen, an older lady with memory decline, and her daughter and carer Karen, have recently started coming to Tower House to enjoy the activities.

Doreen said: "I love talking to other people, and I enjoy sharing interests with them."

A former professional designer with a creative streak, Doreen said: "I enjoyed the painting group" hosted by Tower House,

Sarah King is SVP Projects Assistant at Tower House. Sarah said: "Our volunteers are incredible. They have the special skills and qualities of compassion and listening which helps them deal with guests who come to the Memory Café. As the focus is conversation, the volunteers will sit down together with guests, and encourage them to have a chat, picking up on sentences, to jog their memories where they may have lost the thread. It's a very special quality of care, and allows people to feel connected."

As well as the volunteers at Tower House, the SVP also depends on volunteers for the St Vincent's Community Shop on Lewis Road.

Katrine is a volunteer at the Community Shop and said: "I had to give up my healthcare job because of my own health problems. I really wanted to volunteer in a shop, and St Vincent's appealed. Not only had I learnt about St Vincent de Paul, Patron Saint of the poor, at school in France, but I also felt the St Vincent's shop was most ethical because it was more affordable, and because the staff were very inclusive and welcoming."

Caroline also volunteers at St Vincent's Community shop and said: "By volunteering I feel part of the community. I'm 67 and retired, so it allows me to keep my skills and alertness up to scratch. I love chatting to the customers and it's very rewarding."

The Brighton Tower House Support Centre, and St Vincent's Community shop are both run by the SVP.

To find out more or become a volunteer, visit: www.svp.org.uk/ contact Tower House directly 01273 549 604 or email info@svp.org.uk