We were pleasantly shocked to discover that the Thanet Volunteer Bureau had been awarded the top accolade at last month’s Isle of Thanet Gazette “Heart of the Community” Awards. A delegation of our volunteers, staff and trustees (pictured) attended the Awards Ceremony, which took place on Thursday February 8 at St Augustine’s, Westgate, with no real inkling that we would soon be awarded the first prize (sponsored by the Gazette, London Array, and Westwood Cross) of £4,000! We are very grateful indeed to those of you who voted for us towards the end of 2017.
Not so long ago, the Thanet Volunteer Bureau (TVB) was described by someone as “Thanet’s best kept secret”. This description may be an overstatement (within the backdrop of the numerous gems that our beautiful Isle has to offer!), but if that description was correct, we hope that our Heart of the Community award will give us the opportunity over the coming year to share with the people of Thanet a little bit more about our work.
About the Thanet Volunteer Bureau – what do we do?
As our name suggests, our “bread and butter” is about connecting people wishing to explore the rich variety of volunteering opportunities available in Thanet, to the charities and community groups who need the help of volunteers to carry on the great work they do. We have a searchable website containing current volunteering opportunities and have over 400 organisations registered with us (
www.thanetvolunteerbureau.co.uk).
We also run the Volunteer Drivers’ Scheme, which enables older people without access to transport, to get to and from their medical appointments (e.g. GP, hospital, dentist, opticians, etc.) safely. Collectively, our volunteer car drivers make roughly 20,000 journeys a year for over 800 members of the Scheme! To find out more about joining, either as a patient who needs transport, or as a volunteer driver, call Martin Lawford on 01843 609334.
As regular readers of the Ramsgate Town Council Community Ad Magazine will know, we also lead the Thanet Community Support Partnership (TCSP) – a group of charitable and community-based organisations who have come together to promote the health and wellbeing of older people in Thanet, with a particular emphasis on reducing the blight of loneliness and social isolation.
Our TCSP team runs a series of social gatherings across Thanet called “Your Time”. They provide an opportunity for friendship, food and drink, and activities such as live music, chair-based exercises, quizzes, etc. In Ramsgate, our “Your Time” sessions take place at the Centenary Hall, Hardres Street, CT11 8QP, every Wednesday from 1pm-3pm; and also at Copperfields in Melbourne Avenue, Newington, CT12 6LW, each Thursday from 12:30pm-3pm. For further information, Claire Singleton, our “Your Time” coordinator, will be happy to hear from you on 01843 609336.
The TCSP also facilitates the Thanet Good Neighbours Service. This is a befriending scheme whose members can benefit from home visits (or phone calls if preferred) from a volunteer befriender, as well as assistance with shopping, and even dog-walking if needed. Rebecca Bullivant is the Good Neighbours Service coordinator and her number is 01843 609335.
We run additional projects, too, including the Central Referrals Service, which is a single point of contact (01843 609337) connecting people to the support services they need locally; as well as the Thanet Over Fifties Forum (“TOFFs”).
You can find out more about the projects run by the TCSP by visiting our website, which is
www.thanetcommunitysupport.org.uk, or emailing us at
tcsp.info@thanetvolunteerbureau.co.uk.
If you would like to join our family of volunteers here at the Thanet Volunteer Bureau, please feel free to contact our Volunteer Broker, Paul Gibbons, on 01843 609338, or
paul.gibbons@thanetvolunteerbureau.co.uk.