“I have recently started Volunteering on the Dementia Households, Pat and Audrey, helping with sensory art and flower arranging. I decided to Volunteer on the Dementia Households as my late father had dementia. I think many people are scared of being with people with Dementia but there are so many stages of the illness, and you can always find remnants of the person within those stages. There is a whole world within them, and if you make the present enjoyable, you make that world available to them. For me, the aim is to make that one present moment special.

I wake up on Thursday mornings excited to meet all the lovely Residents, and I go home happy. I didn’t expect to feel so happy and positive about Volunteering. I enjoy the creativity of helping the Residents do arts and crafts, painting and collage. I have some very meaningful moments, small interactions mean so much to them. And to me. A little chat with someone, taking an interest in them and you have changed that moment for the Residents. I feel I get back as much from Volunteering as I give, if not more so. I am constantly surprised at how much I absolutely love my time here.” – Nightingale Hammerson Volunteer