Volunteer with Good Neighbours CARE today

We all know that often it’s the smallest things that can make the biggest difference to our lives. For many, help with the shopping, a lift to a doctor’s appointment or just a chat over a cup of tea can make days easier and brighter.

In Cuckfield, Lindfield, Scaynes Hill and across Mid Sussex, Good Neighbours CARE has been providing friendly and practical support for residents for many years. This year marks the charity’s 40th birthday and along with lots of celebrations in the pipeline, Good Neighbours CARE has set itself the goal of recruiting forty new volunteers who are willing to lend a helping hand to neighbours in need.

Whilst the charity has always been blessed with many volunteers who selflessly give up their precious time to help others, the demand for its services is ever increasing. So, what motivates people to volunteer for Good Neighbours CARE? Cuckfield’s Miranda Grainger has been volunteering for the charity since 2018 and heads up the befriending service which assesses clients and then matches them with volunteers for visiting. Miranda visits several clients and shops for them too. She also takes her clients to medical appointments. For Miranda volunteering at Good Neighbour CARE has so many benefits. “I know what a difference I make by visiting the lonely. My clients are incredibly grateful, and I always try to leave them with a smile on their face. I have heard so many wonderful stories about their lives.” Miranda has developed strong bonds with her clients over the years. She adds, “I was asked to do a reading at a client’s funeral, and I was so overwhelmingly touched that the family recognised the importance of my friendship with their loved one.”

Her volunteering has also brought about a new addition to her family – Pickle, a 19-year-old cat, who needed to be re-homed. “Pickle has been enjoying her retirement home with me for the last 2 years!” Angela Holroyd, a retired nurse has been volunteering with Good Neighbour CARE for seven years. She remembers chatting to a friend who told her that many patients were missing their medical appointments simply because they had no means of getting themselves to their surgeries. Having some spare time on her hands, Angela started to volunteer with the charity. She’s also one of the charity’s Duty Officers – a team responsible for manning the busy telephone lines. “I particularly love my conversations with clients as I’m driving them to their doctor or hospital appointments. I’d recommend volunteering to anyone and everyone – if you care about your community and its people, you should give us a call.” Angela adds. Debbie Schlup ‘s mum was the reason Debbie joined Good Neighbours CARE. “My mum would regularly help out in charity shops, so when I saw the opportunity to help others through Good Neighbour CARE, I jumped at the chance,” she recalls. Debbie’s been volunteering for nine years and as the charity’s Volunteer Secretary, she’s responsible for on boarding new volunteers.
According to Debbie, giving such a small amount of time means so much to the clients: “It seems like very little to me and yet our clients tell me that they’d be lost without us,” she adds. Good Neighbours Care has made a huge difference to the life of Cuckfield resident Darren Dwyer, who relies on the volunteers to get him to and from his doctor and hospital appointments. Before reaching out to the charity, Darren was missing appointments as taxi fares were expensive. “Good Neighbours CARE has been brilliant. It has changed my life,” Darren says. If it wasn’t for the charity, I would have missed an emergency X-ray. And having a volunteer to take me to my appointments does wonders for my mental health meaning I am less anxious and less worried about how I’m going to get there.”

Nancy Towner echoes Darren’s sentiments. She has been a client for the last nine years. “The most important thing about Good Neighbours CARE is that I can always rely on its volunteers and that gives me so much peace of mind,” Nancy explains. According to Christina Chelmick, Good Neighbours CARE’s Chair, “We are blessed with so many committed volunteers and yet the truth is that we need more. I have been involved with the charity since the start, but we are looking especially for younger volunteers who, full of fresh and new ideas, will guarantee we continue for another forty years and even longer!

So, if you have some spare time in your busy lives and you want to give something back to the Cuckfield community and beyond, we’d love to hear from you.” For more information, call 01444 455955 or visit: www.careinhaywardsheath.co.uk

Computers for kids help thousands of families across Sussex

By Deirdre Huston

Nearby Holy Trinity Cuckfield School takes a delivery of IT equipment

Recently, a news item grabbed Colin Hill’s attention. Shocked to learn there are currently 1.8 million children in the UK who do not have a device on which to learn from home, he found two old devices, which had been sitting unused in his home, and wiped them. “Then I popped a message onto Facebook,” says Colin, “saying any local kids in need of a device were welcome to my old machines, and it all sprung from there.”

The response was incredible. Colin had over 100 responses from local people in need of devices, but, thankfully, there were also plenty of people saying they also had devices available. “It was the start of something very positive,” recalls Colin.

The first two machines went to a local family, where one of the four children has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Colin prioritises the most vulnerable families, and he believes that if pupils can stay at home and study effectively, it will help slow the spread of the virus. He is driven by a desire to improve equality.

About two days after his first post, Pixel Computing in Burgess Hill offered to wipe and clean the devices. And Tubbs Computer Supplies now help with storage. “We’ve built a deployment server and we’ve put it in there too,” explains Colin, “so that we can prepare multiple machines at once. We are interested in machines that support home learning - Apple 4 onwards (4th generation iPads or later), or ideally Windows 7 onwards, as they can then be upgraded to Windows 10 easily and run more of the programmes used by schools.”

In a few short weeks, Colin and his team of volunteers have already helped between 400 and 450 families, but they now have a waiting list of over a thousand families in Sussex. Holy Trinity School in Cuckfield has taken delivery of several devices recently. As well as being referred through schools and the church, families in need sometimes approach the organisation directly through Facebook.

Computers for Kids is in the process of becoming a charity and Colin is grateful that several people have stepped forward to be trustees. However, in the meantime, they can’t apply for grants. Computers for Kids are looking at premises to store and distribute more machines and have started a GoFundMe page

to help make this possible. “We’ve recently partnered with BT too,” explains Colin. “It’s one thing to give the families the devices, but they also need to be connected to the internet and BT have provided vouchers towards free bandwidth.”

Thankfully, about 25 volunteers have come forward, including Cuckfield residents Vicky, Debbie and Anne. “We still need more volunteers,” says Colin, “especially people who understand computers enough to be able to delete all data from the devices using a three-pass wipe.”

If you know a child in need of a device, have a device which could be wiped and reconditioned, or would like to volunteer your skills, see www.computersforkids.org.uk