Welcome to the October issue of Re-engage Matters, and my first as the new head of service delivery and volunteering with the charity. In my first few weeks at Re-engage, I’ve been blown away by your dedication and determination to help reduce loneliness and isolation, through phone calls, social gatherings, fundraising and more. I’m overjoyed to join an organisation filled with so much passion, and to be able to support you on your journey as a volunteer.

This month we’re opening nominations for the Marsh Awards, an annual opportunity for volunteers, older people and staff to nominate outstanding contributions to Re-engage. You can make your nominations here - we’re really looking forward to reading them! Nominations close on 22 November and the winners will be announced in December.

As ever, your feedback is invaluable to us and I’m really looking forward to speaking with many of you, receiving your Marsh Awards nominations, and celebrating your achievements over the coming months. If you'd like to get in touch, please email us at knowledge@reengage.org.uk

With very best wishes,

Emily Mangroves

head of service delivery and volunteering

Celebrating volunteers through the Marsh Awards

The Marsh Awards are back for 2024, giving us a chance to recognise and celebrate the incredible volunteers who make a real difference to the lives of older people experiencing loneliness and social isolation. Your nominations are a wonderful way to show how much the commitment of volunteers means to Re-engage and the people they support. 

Call companions in partnership with Parkinson's UK

As a Re-engage volunteer, you already make a difference to older people, and your support is invaluable. The stark reality is, more and more older people need help due to a general shortage of support services for people 75 and older. If you have a little spare time, please consider becoming a call companion in partnership with Parkinson’s UK.

Community Christmas

Add your event to our free directory of festive activities taking place across the UK during December. You can also show the older people you support how to search the directory for an event near them - it's regularly updated as new events are uploaded.

Making everyone feel welcome

We want all our volunteers and older people to feel valued and able to celebrate diversity. You can recap our equality, diversity and inclusion training, as well as all our other core modules, in the volunteer resources section of our website.

Christmas call companion update

Thank you to everyone who has applied to be a Christmas call companion this year. Your patience is appreciated as we work through the applications and we’ll be in touch soon with more information about your match. Thanks for your kindness and willingness to make a difference this Christmas.

An honour for Loraine

Re-engage volunteer Loraine Coleman has received a special thank you for her work in supporting older people in her local area.

Driving success

Our dedicated volunteer drivers ensure that guests have the opportunity to share a cuppa, conversation and joy in their communities, without worrying about transport. Over the past month we’ve calculated that collectively our drivers spent 63,270 minutes transporting older people get to tea parties and activity groups, that’s almost 44 days spent helping people to stay connected!

The value of volunteering

We ask older people what Re-engage means to them. Each month, we share some feedback so you can see the impact your time, energy, and generosity have on older people’s lives all year round.