Volunteer Visitor

Open your heart

We are most grateful to our nationwide team of voluntary visitors who help us to look after our beneficiaries, by visiting them regularly, offering friendship, and helping us keep in touch with any changing needs. This is so important to beneficiaries who are living alone and may feel isolated and lonely.

We appreciate that people are living increasingly busy lives, but if you think you could spare a few hours, once a quarter, to visit someone who has retired from your industry, then please consider becoming a volunteer visitor for Sweet Charity.  You could really help to make someone’s life a little sweeter.

Chris Morgan, a Sweet Charity trustee and volunteer visitor, explains why he enjoys the role:

“I've been a volunteer visitor for over 15 years.  I thoroughly enjoy the role and I get some real "job satisfaction" from it.  Knowing that just by making a visit I've made a beneficiary’s life just a little brighter that day”.

National statistics show that 13% of older people do not leave their homes more than once a week and one in ten over 65's say they feel lonely ‘often or all of the time’. “Many of our retired beneficiaries, are lonely, they have little savings, live on a low income and are likely to suffer ill health”.

The role of the volunteer visitor is to support our Welfare Officers by making a visit at least four times a year. Chris explains “you'll need to have empathy, be a good listener, and have an ability to drink copious amounts of tea and eat lots of biscuits (it's rude to refuse!) So it is as easy as that!  You can visit one beneficiary or more, if you have the time, either way please do consider this role and at least speak to someone in our welfare department at Sweet Charity to find out more about it”.

If this has made you think you would like to help, we are currently actively recruiting for visitors in York, Birmingham and Sheffield.  Please contact Caroline on 020 7404 5222, welfare@sweetcharity.net for more information. If you live outside these areas, and would still be interested in volunteering, do get in touch and we will contact you if there is someone in your area who needs a visitor.