Simply The Best
Published on 31 December 2021 09:00 AM
This festive season, we’re bringing you 12 stories of Christmas. These stories tell of the miraculous things that the Age UK Notts staff, volunteers, funders, and you have done to support older people across Notts & Nottinghamshire this year.
Story 8: Simply the Best
People of all ages and all walks of life volunteer for Age UK Nottingham & Nottinghamshire - and we couldn't do our vital work without them! But not only do our volunteers share their time, skills, experience, talents, enthusiasm, and energy to enable us to support local older people, some of them really go the extra mile. Here are just a few stories of the amazing things that our volunteers achieved this year...
In May we were pleased to report that Adrian, who ran our Sutton Lunch Club for 16 years until his retirement in 2018, had finally received his British Empire Medal after being nominated for the Honour in the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Honours list. As well as his work with us, Adrian is a much-valued member of his local British Legion branch and was nominated by them for his award. He also spent many years working in social services – the community has always been close to his heart.
What a proud moment for Adrian and what a pleasure it was to share in that moment. Thank you for all your hard work and commitment, Adrian, and we hope you are enjoying your retirement.
In June, we were delighted to share the news that Elaine Hopkins, our Active Veterans Outreach Worker, had been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Recognised for her work with the Royal British Legion and support for veterans over many years, Elaine is thrilled with the award.
One example of Elaine’s work was to set up a letter-writing activity between pupils and older veterans. It brought a lot of happiness to the participants, with some of the veterans writing back about their experiences and offering words of comfort during the lockdowns. What a lovely way to bring the generations together.
Congratulations, Elaine. We hope you enjoy the experience of receiving your award and all that goes with it.
Like many volunteers, Courtney, who lives in Mansfield, offered to help us last year when she was put on furlough. At her busiest, Courtney was supporting 15 older people who had no other means of support by doing their shopping, collecting medication, and chatting with them as part of our Welfare Service. Courtney’s support ultimately had a positive impact on their lives at a time full of uncertainty and worry. We were proud to nominate Courtney for a Room to Reward Pandemic Heroes prize for going the extra mile! Courtney has won a 2-night stay with breakfast in a hotel of her choice from the list provided by Room to Reward.
Courtney has now returned to work at Costa Coffee where she shows a special interest in older people on their own. She always finds time to have a little chat with them and brighten their day a bit.
We'd like to say a huge thank you to Courtney and to all our volunteers for making the lives of older people that bit better over the last year. You're simply the best!