The charity has recently advertised a range of new volunteer roles throughout Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and is looking for people to sign up ahead of their induction days. Their latest recruitment video is available on their website and provides a small insight into the fantastic work they do across Cambridge and Peterborough supporting those affected by sight loss.
Martin (75) from Cambridge, has been volunteering for CamSight for over eight years. His involvement started when he went to a CamSight fundraising dinner and the reality of living with sight loss really “came to light”.
“I had a friend who was involved in fundraising, and after attending one of their events I contacted the volunteering team as I was really taken by the stories of how the charity had supported service users and helped to empower their lives.
“I was assigned a befriending role which meant I would visit clients and service users in their homes. From this I also gradually got involved with the Volunteer Drivers for the Bourn Peer Support Group.
For many years Martin visited a lady called Sheila* who lives in a village outside of Cambridge. Sheila is sadly chair-bound at home, following a life changing health condition and her eyesight has been badly affected.
“Initially, once a week I would visit Sheila in her home, and as she used to love going to pub quizzes, I would bring the pub quiz to her living room, and we would do a quiz together! And yes, as she is very knowledgeable, she can often beat me which we both laugh about! During Covid we moved our catch-ups online and now a virtual meet up works better for us both, so weekly we do a pub quiz over the computer.
“One thing that has also struck me, and continues to do so, is the resilience of the service users I meet. I find it a fruitful and a hugely beneficial role. It is a two-way relationship and I get a lot from befriending roles and the volunteer driver duties, and I would urge anyone considering volunteering to contact CamSight. There are many ways to get involved in the charity and you can play a huge part in someone’s life living with sight loss, as well as gaining rewarding and unique relationships along the way.
Claire Haggarty, Volunteer and Activities Manager for CamSight, said: “We have been really excited to release our next volunteer roles, including peer support group volunteer assistants across Cambridgeshire, and volunteer drivers for our peer support groups, are just a handful of the roles we currently have available. We have two induction days, and I would be very happy to have an informal chat with anyone who is interested in starting the process.”
Watch our video on what you could expect with volunteering from us.
Take a look at this infographic explaining our volunteer recruitment process.
If our charity sounds like something you would like to be involved with, please contact our volunteering team by emailing volunteer@camsight.org.uk or call 01223 420033 or visit our www.camsight.org.uk
For more information about sight loss services in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough please visit www.camsight.org.uk
