Volunteer Stories
We are looking for volunteer stories. If you, or someone you know, has a story to tell (funny, sad, poignant etc.) please contact us. Telephone 028 7035 8285 or by email michelle@causewayvc.org
Rosemary Dunbar
Volunteering
V – value and feeling good – that’s what I get from volunteering!
O – optimistic – volunteering makes you feel optimistic about your future!
L – lots of opportunities to try different things!
U – unique – volunteering makes you forget about your own needs and concentrate on others!
N – nurturing – volunteering is good for nurturing the mind!
T – time is precious so why not do something worthwhile in your spare time? Volunteer!
E – volunteering – it certainly boosts your ego!
E – energy – volunteering gives you that get up and go feeling!
R – raising awareness about volunteering and telling people abut the benefits you get from volunteering!
I – interesting ways to develop new skills
N – new friends are made through all the different groups
G – getting out and about on different day trips!
Mrs Rosemary Dunbar
Volunteer
Betty Calvert
Why I Volunteer
The seeds of volunteering were sown when I was a young girl. My father was always helping people in trouble from whenever I can remember, whether it was helping a young unmarried girl or gathering money to pay someone’s funeral expenses. Growing up in the 1940’s diphtheria and TB were rife. A gentleman called Mr Alex McLernon and my father went around the district on bicycles and collected what money people could afford. This could have been anything from one shilling to half a crown. This money would have been given to the poor widow to pay funeral costs. This was before the National Welfare System which came into being on 05.07.48.
My headmaster at Ballycastle Grammar School, Mr German, gave us all a card with a Christmas Tree painted on it. There were balloons tied to the tree. Our mothers, fathers, grandparents etc wrote the amount they could afford onto each balloon and this amount was donated to Dr Barnardos. At that time the children’s home was full and we often saw the young housemothers walking up the street with the children, and because of this our Christmas collection made sense.
I have always helped with church activities, in childhood, through nursing training and even after I was married. I lived with my in-laws, and shortly after moving in my mother-in-law became very ill, my eldest sister-in-law was injured at birth and had learning difficulties, poor eyesight and limited mobility. Between nursing in hospital and home commitments I had less time to volunteer but still supported Dr Barnardos and Oxfam shops.
In 1983 my husbands immediate family in the house had died and we moved to the Coleraine area to be near my own mother who had been widowed at the young age of 51. I am the oldest of a family of 10. I was just 26 when my father died and my youngest sister was only 4 ½ years old.
I became a district nurse in Claudy, then relief sister. I worked between Kilrea, Garvagh, Coleraine, Portstewart, Portrush and Ballymoney District meeting many different people with many different needs. I became involved in Crossroads Care. Crossroads Care supplied care in the mornings and evenings paid for by the Northern Social Services Board. The ‘core’ money gave the carer 3-4 hours per week to plan to go to the hairdresser or simply visit friends while a trained carer stayed with the person they were caring for. Through meeting different patients I became involved with Multiple Sclerosis Group, Transplant Association and Diabetes UK. I do flag days for the above and also Save The Children and Action MS.
Through a friend at work, Mrs Elizabeth Morrison, I became involved with Blyswood Care and Mission Moldova sending help to Romania.
In 1995 my husband Roy died suddenly with coronary thrombosis. I was totally devastated and threw myself into my work and charity work even more so. In that type of situation you can either become depressed and self destructive or you can put your energy and strength into constructive work, and I found the later a great help in the grieving process.
When I retired in 2000 I joined Causeway Volunteer Centre and made friends with the staff and other volunteers. I admire other volunteers, who through illness or accidents have set a great example of how to move forward and help others in greater need.
In 2003 I had the honour of being volunteer of the year, and was highly commended in 2010 during an awards ceremony at Coleraine Borough Council to celebrate National Volunteers Week.
I intend to carry on volunteering while my health allows me to and encourage others to do the same.
Betty Calvert
Volunteer
