Group Activities at Shepshed

Excerpt from new 2009 - 2010 VAC Services Brochure - Group Activities At Shepshed

Sally Bardsley - Shepshed Activities Worker

The centre provides volunteer led services including social car scheme, gardening and befriending and is a key player in the Shepshed community.

All activities and services are facilitated and supported by a paid worker, but rely on the hard work and commitment of the many volunteers who provide hours of valuable service.

Social Car Scheme

The centre has 16 volunteer drivers, using their own cars to take people to health appointments and some social appointments and shopping. They also transport volunteers with special needs to their voluntary placements. All transport requests are risk assessed and the criteria are based on people unable to use public transport. A nominal charge is made.

Gardening Scheme

A very strong team of volunteers, including volunteers with special needs, meets the ever-growing demand for this service. Gardens are visited and risk assessed and then volunteers work on them in groups from the beginning of spring through to early autumn. The scheme over the years has benefited those people whose gardens are tidied, but has also provided the volunteers with added benefits in social and physical well-being through group gardening activities.

Befriending Scheme

The scheme matches volunteer befrienders to those people who are at risk of becoming socially isolated due to their own personal circumstances. Befrienders visit at a time to suit both parties and provide a range of support from simple friendship to supporting activities such as reading, maintaining a hobby or enabling visits to faith and social places.

SNUG (Special Needs Umbrella Group)

This is a local network group for people and organisations that provide support or services for people with disabilities. They work together to provide:

• A forum for information sharing
• Heightened awareness of local issues for people with disabilities
• Promotion of good practice and new services
• A paper directory of local groups and activities (available on VAC website in Autumn 2009).

For further information please contact Sally Bardsley on 01509 508040 or sally.bardsley@
voluntaryactioncharnwood.org.uk

Sally retires in September 2009 after 26 years of service to Shepshed

SNUG Directory of Services

The new SNUG Directory of Services can be accessed by clicking on the links below. The directory has been separated into four sections for ease of use. If you wish to read the whole document then click on each link in turn, but if you simply wish to find a particular page then use the section 'SNUG Directory of Services' for reference as it includes the front cover and index which will indicate the section and page of the document you require.

We hope you will find the directory useful and any feedback would be appreciated. Please use the feedback page for any comments you would like to make.

Thank you.