Tricia started helping out with virtual coffee mornings during lockdown
Tricia
Berkshire, England
I’m part of Berkshire Vision’s befriending scheme, which means I do everything from running a weekly online coffee morning, to chatting to a lovely lady on the phone once a week.
I’d been wanting to get involved in my local community for a while, and during lockdown I thought this is the right time. My parents live in Cambridge and I couldn’t go and see them, but they had great neighbours helping them, so I thought there’s people helping your family, so you need to see if somebody else needs help too.
I contacted the Reading Hub, who were coordinating community volunteers during lockdown and I got involved with Berkshire Vision, who provide support for visually impaired people across Berkshire. I was shielding, so I couldn’t help face-to-face. Berkshire Vision got in touch as they needed help with remote activities that they’d put online. I started helping with their weekly online coffee morning for people to talk and get together and from November I’ll be running the sessions. Although the group is starting to meet up in person again, people still want the remote events to happen because they’re more accessible.
I help out for around two hours a week and fit this around my working days. I'll continue to take part and as the COVID-19 situation improves, hopefully do some face-to-face as well.
I think taking part in your local community is good for everyone. If you’re thinking about it, just do it. You can think about what’s important to you, what interests you and follow that.
