Our Health Champions project ended in March this year and what a fantastic project it was. 168 health champions took part in the project with many completing a course in Health.
The health champions volunteered to have "health chats" with people about how to lead a healthy lifestyle. Using the local knowledge the gained they directed people to the right group, activity or information to help improve their health.
During the project they had over 3000 conversations with people about health.
They each had different interests in the area of health, from nutrition to mental health. Some health champions have continued on to the new wellbeing project and are using their knowledge to support people to improve their wellbeing.
Hello, my name is Sarah and I volunteer with the Wellbeing Group (I also volunteer at the café). I make cups of tea, tidy up, talk with people – especially people on their own, so they feel part of the group. I also help them find out who they need to talk to for advice for things like housing.
I’ve been doing this for about a year, on and off. What’s good is you can fit volunteering round your family needs so if you can’t make it, its OK.
People are so nice. I was having a bad time and they dragged me into singing. That started me coming to things and getting involved. Because of what I’ve experienced, I understand what people are going through and we all help each other. We make a big difference in each other’s lives and there’s lots of support for volunteers.
Being a volunteer has really helped me. If you want to volunteer at Southern Brooks, I’d say go for it. Its been the best experience, its been fun, upbeat and I’ve learned new skills. I’m giving back to other people as well and I get so much energy out of it!