Volunteering

You may occasionally have encountered a large blue smurf pushing a wheelbarrow around the NMC grounds.

If you take a closer look it could actually be my good-self decked out in bobble-hat, wellies and a blue Barclays Tee-shirt. It pays to dress for every type of weather if you spend any length of time outdoors. Sunglasses and a cagoule are also essentials!

I have been a Barclays Volunteer for at least the last 10 years (probably a lot more) and have worked at various local charities and schools. I have undertaken projects including refurbishing a small-pets enclosure (the pets were on holiday for the day), hand-painting a mural of Noah’s Ark, cutting up cheese and buttering baguettes, serving up portions of Irish Stew, door-steward at Chester Cathedral and last but not least Gardening.

I have learnt many important life-skills over the years:
• If you drop a mobile phone into a 5 litre bucket of magnolia emulsion, no amount of rubbing with a wet rag will restore the phone to its former glory.
• When you and several colleagues are all at the top of pairs of steps ladders, one of the things you don’t want to see at the bottom is an over-excited mouse looking for a convenient exit.
• Mushroom Risotto, if stirred for long enough, is an effective facial sauna.
• If you cut up enough brie you can become lactose- intolerant.
• There is always a nettle or something with thorns in every pile of garden rubbish.
• Wheelbarrow tyres always go flat just when you have a heavy load to move.
• Secateurs have a life of their own and are never where you last saw them.

Many of the people who accompany me on volunteering events are serial offenders and I am lucky that we all seem to want to put in some hard-work, have a laugh together and eat lots of the lovely sandwiches the NMC provide for us. On the odd occasion where some-one has just turned up “for a day off work” they have not returned for a second visit. It has been a pleasure to show my colleagues around the NMC and for them to see and feel a part of the excellent work that goes on there. Many had never have heard of Muscular Dystrophy or the NMC to begin with but over the years they have seen first-hand the difference that practical support can make to people’s lives.

Barclays provides up to £500 funding for every event that comprises of 5 or more members of staff and although the application process can be a little problematic we have always got there – thanks to Claire in the NMC office.  Volunteering allows people to grow in confidence and form bonds with people they would not encounter in their everyday life. It broadens your knowledge and outlook and genuinely gives you a “feel-good factor”. It doesn’t really matter what you do, there is always fun to be had out there and a good cause that will benefit from your help.