Volunteer Voices: Caroline Morris – a sense of purpose and belonging

Across our Invest Local groups, there’s one key benefit that many of our volunteers tell us they have experienced as a result of getting involved with the project: a sense of belonging and added purpose to their day.

With many people feeling an increased sense of isolation since the pandemic and struggling to integrate back into the community, the benefit of becoming involved in local action and development programmes is one that we should truly celebrate.

Earlier this year, BCT met with Caroline Morris, a volunteer from the Invest Local group – We Are Plas Madoc – whose journey so far has not only brought her a sense of belonging within her community, but also empowered her with a sense of being able to achieve her true calling, even after her life took a different and unexpected turn.

She told us: “I've been volunteering for, it must be nearly a year now. It was Kaytee and Donna who asked me, because I helped Kaytee out when the pantry first started, I was here having a brew and they were getting the pantry set up. I was a support worker before I broke my ankle and I'd come out of work, so I said I would like to volunteer, because I'd like to give something back to the community.

“I used to look after my mum when she was alive. She lived here in the Plas Telford, I used to go to her every day to help her out. I used to stay there most of the day to make sure she had everything she needed. I did a carers course locally and, from there (just after my mum passed away) I got a job as a support worker for Wrexham Council, looking after older people. I started off working in town in a place called Maes y Dderwen and then I got transferred up to Plas Telford once my mum had passed away.

“I just loved the job you know, and I felt that helping people was truly my calling so, it's sad that I had to leave because I broke my ankle; it would be two years this July that I had the accident. I was on my annual leave so I was out with a friend and we went out to a fair in town. Afterwards I said: ‘I'll make sure you get home, I'll have a brew with you and then I'll go, and I'll feed my animals.’ I went to her house and I came down the stairs carrying some washing for her, however her stairs are thinner than mine, and I slipped on the fourth step from the bottom. I dislocated my ankle and broke it on both sides. It was a bad break; I was in the hospital for a month. I had an operation and there were pins and screws put in. When I came home, I had to stay downstairs because I couldn't get up the stairs. So yes, unfortunately, I had to leave the care home because I didn't want to put anybody in danger – myself or the residents. However, now I’m able to move around a bit more again, I still go and visit, and I've made good friends there. So, I still get to interact with everybody and just generally help out with things.”

After Caroline broke her ankle and, given the fact that she was living alone, she found that a sense of isolation quickly set in. However, a suggestion from her friend provided just the opportunity that Caroline needed to reconnect with her love of helping people and supporting her community.

“It was a friend of mine who suggested I visit the Kettle Club and have a brew have a chat with people to get me out of the house, because I was stuck indoors for over a month on my own. So, I just walked over one day and came and met Kaytee and Donna, had a cuppa and a chat, and I said that I didn’t mind helping as long as I could stay sitting. We used to label and put the dates on the food, so, I sat helping to do that. Then I ended up coming back the following day, as it gave me something to do, you know, so I became a formal volunteer for the group. From then on, I started doing the pantry, helping with the bingo, supporting coffee mornings just general things like and I come to the Kettle Club for a brew when I'm not volunteering.”

Caroline also explained that supporting the food pantry and coffee mornings are some of her favourite activities to support, because it's through those activities she feels she can give the most back. “Basically, it's getting to know people in the community, it also gives me a sense of helping other people in the community because I can say to people, we've got this pantry that’s on a Thursday and it's 10 items for £3, if you're stuck, come along. Or let people know about Kettle Club and that they can sit and have a brew and a chat to help with loneliness. It gets people to come here that haven't got enough money to last them till they get paid, because if they come here, they can make that stretch enough to get meals until they get paid.”

Caroline says that volunteering with We Are Plas Madoc has helped her to grow more confident with people and has even allowed her to take on new challenges and gain new skills. “My experience with volunteering has helped me to develop a better understanding of what folk face sometimes and to learn more skills for supporting people. When we had Plastonbury in the summer, they were asking for someone to help in the hub with the food and drinks, I volunteered to support and the group helped me to pass my level 2 in food hygiene, so I could help out Phil – another volunteer – with the food. It was a really good day, there were loads of people here and we sold out of food. So, volunteering has allowed me to develop food awareness and hygiene skills, which is something I didn’t have before.”

In addition to helping Caroline build more skills, she explained that she has also benefited from the services that We Are Plas Madoc offers. “Coming here has helped me to gain access to the pantry because I volunteer here and then I can get things when I need them. I might only need three or four things, but I still give £3.00 because whatever they make goes back into getting more food to fill the pantry up. So I access the resources myself and it’s a great help to have that there too to help when I need it. I'd say the most successful thing is the pantry because it helps a lot of people. It also gives the parents a chance to let off steam, as well have some breakfast and a brew when they drop the kids off at school. It gives them a chance to meet up with their friends and have a natter.”

As the conversation draws to a close with Caroline, it’s that sense of belonging and of having somewhere to come where she feels welcome, useful, and valued that comes to the surface again. It’s clear from speaking to her, that projects like this not only provide vital physical resources and services for the community, but that these projects are also creating a space for connection, friendship, and community spirit to thrive in.

“Well, it's given me a lot of confidence to go out and meet other people, I think basically it's boosted my wellbeing as well. Getting out of the house and having something to come to, otherwise I'd just be sat in the house, and I’d be bored. It’s about feeling socially included every day. I live on my own… well me and the cat and two guinea pigs.

I do have my off days and I sit at home. I have friends popping in for a brew, but then when they go home, I'm on my own. So rather than sit with that feeling, I choose to volunteer for things that are happening here. Through that, I met Phil and his partner Emma, I've met Kaytee properly now, I met Donna and her family, and lots of other people that come in here for a brew or to volunteer. So, it's made my circle of friends a little bit wider and it's helped me to fight back against isolation and given me a sense of purpose for the day, which has been one of the best things to come from volunteering for me.”