Help Us To Help the Older People of Renfrewshire

Help Us To Help the Older People of Renfrewshire

Reaching Older Adults in Renfrewshire (ROAR) is looking for volunteers to help make a real difference to the lives of older people in Renfrewshire.

ROAR is an award-winning PSP (Public Social Partnership) that offers various services and activities to Renfrewshire’s older citizens, such as befriending, transport and ROAR lunch and activity clubs, to improve their quality of life and provide support and friendship when it is needed most.

ROAR is looking for people of all ages to spare a few hours a week as volunteers. Volunteers will make a genuine and important difference to the lives of older people in Renfrewshire as well as having fun and developing new skills and experience. Volunteers can give as much or as little time as they wish and will be supported as part of a team.

There are several ROAR services where volunteers can play a vital role. First is One-to-One Befriending – this can be at home or in the community, for people who are feeling a bit isolated or wanting some company. Volunteers can spend time just chatting, taking them out for the day or helping to do things around the house.

There’s also Specialist Befriending, which helps those with early stages of Alzheimer’s. Again this involves volunteers spending a couple of hours a week chatting to them, accompanying them to shops etc.

ROAR also runs weekly lunch and activity clubs in Johnstone, Linwood, Houston and Lochwinnoch and need volunteers to help serve lunch, and assist with a range of activity programmes including entertainment, tea dances, arts and crafts, bingo, and beetle drives to gentle exercise, massage, tai chi, healthy eating, laughter therapy and lots more! Several new ROAR clubs will be opening across many parts of Renfrewshire in the coming months and we are particularly keen to recruit local volunteers for them too.

If anyone out there has DIY or trade skills we’d be really keen to hear from you too as we will shortly be introducing a handy person service through ROAR in partnership with Care & Repair. This will provide a range of practical services to older adults with tasks ranging from changing light bulbs and hanging curtains to small scale joinery and plumbing services.

Finally, ROAR is seeking volunteer drivers to sustain and develop our transport services for older adults. Volunteer drivers provide invaluable help taking people to and from doctor and hospital appointments, shopping trips, outings and even taking our older adults to their local ROAR Club.

ROAR is coordinated by Renfrewshire Council for Voluntary Services (RCVS) in partnership with WRVS, Alzheimer Scotland, Renfrewshire Community Health Initiative (RCHI), Renfrewshire Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and Renfrewshire Seniors Forum. Joint funding comes from Renfrewshire Council Social Work and Renfrewshire Community Health Partnership.

Alison Greig, ROAR Manager, says: “Volunteering with ROAR can help people give something back to their local community or even help them to get real work experience and a reference if they are currently studying or job hunting.”

Anyone interested in ROAR’s volunteering opportunities and who wants to find out more about what’s available should contact them on 0141 889 7481 or roar@rcvsweb.co.uk.