{"id":5113,"date":"2023-05-08T10:11:03","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T10:11:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crossroadscarerk.org\/?p=5113"},"modified":"2023-06-14T10:47:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-14T10:47:38","slug":"the-hidden-benefits-of-volunteering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/the-hidden-benefits-of-volunteering\/","title":{"rendered":"The Hidden Benefits of Volunteering"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u2018Volunteering? I\u2019d much rather be doing this than going on cruises!\u2019 says Crossroads Care Trustee Margaret Dangoor who has dedicated her life to the needs of carers. Fiona Mitchell spoke to her to mark the Big Help Out \u2013 a community volunteering initiative being held during the King\u2019s Coronation weekend<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"A former NHS nurse and senior manager for more than 30 years, Margaret has personal experience of caring, looking after her husband when he developed Alzheimer\u2019s Disease, and earlier her mother with the same disease.<\/p>\n

Since becoming a carer, Margaret has worked towards improving carers\u2019 lives. Highly commended in the Trustee of the Year category of Richmond Council\u2019s 2021 Community Heroes Awards for her work supporting Crossroads Care, Margaret is also a Trustee for other charities, both nationally and locally.<\/p>\n

Tell us about your work at Crossroads\u2019 Caring Caf\u00e9 which supports people with dementia and their carers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I volunteer at our Caring Caf\u00e9 where people with dementia and their carers meet in a supported environment.\u00a0 I steer a carers\u2019 support group there where we share knowledge gained from lived experience. When I was a carer, the cafe made such a difference to my quality of life. To be able to get together in a specialist environment was so beneficial. When you\u2019re looking after somebody with dementia, it isn\u2019t easy to find an activity which meets the needs of you both, whilst also providing advice and information.<\/p>\n

Why do you enjoy volunteering so much?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I want to make a difference to people\u2019s lives, to give back. People that work for Crossroads really care. There is such an enduring commitment to the organisation and those carers we endeavour to support. Although I\u2019m a Trustee and volunteer, I feel \u2018looked after\u2019 myself. That\u2019s special.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve done so much for carers already, don\u2019t you feel like just relaxing in your retirement?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a past carer, I understand what it entails to be a carer. I\u2019ll be volunteering for as long as I can! It\u2019s an activity I am passionate about. I like being active and feeling connected to people and the community.<\/p>\n

What would you say to someone who wanted to volunteer?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Everyone has something to offer \u2014 different knowledge, experience, abilities. You need empathy and a willingness to be flexible. If you want to volunteer, there\u2019s always a place.<\/p>\n

For more information about volunteering for Crossroads, email us<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Volunteering? I\u2019d much rather be doing this than going on cruises!\u2019 says Crossroads Care Trustee Margaret Dangoor who has dedicated her life to the needs of carers. Fiona Mitchell spoke to her to mark the Big Help Out \u2013 a community volunteering initiative being held during the King\u2019s Coronation weekend A former NHS nurse and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88901,"featured_media":5166,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-friends-of-crossroads-stories","category-our-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/88901"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1089323,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5113\/revisions\/1089323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossroadscarerk.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}