Lesley and Stuart contacted us in April 2021 to enquire about supporting with the COVID vaccine programme. At this time the call for volunteers to support with this had finished so previous Community Connector Hannah asked if they would like to become a Community Champion volunteer to which they agreed.

Due to lockdowns continuing on and off and people feeling too nervous to get out and about following the start of the pandemic, the volunteering tasks asked of Lesley and Stuart were few at the start due to small demand but their thirst and willingness to give back to their community and help however they could became quickly apparent. They enjoyed attending our monthly Zoom forums and getting to know their fellow Champions and offering many happy suggestions and stories for us all to enjoy about their holidays and adventures outside of volunteering.

In Christmas of 2021, Lesley and Stuart were an integral part of assisting Maghull Town Council with the Christmas hampers, delivering packages to vulnerable, isolated members of the local community and spreading some much-needed Christmas cheer after what had been an extremely challenging year for us all.

In June 2022, the previous Maghull Community Connector Louise organised a ‘Maghull Community Marketplace’ event at Maghull Town Hall offering organisations the opportunity to showcase their service/groups with a stall whereby local residents could visit as a ‘One Stop’ to find out the groups/activities and services available to them in their local area. Lesley and Stuart quickly volunteered their time to come along and assist us in hosting the event. They offered a warm welcome to all attending, collecting postcode information, directly people to specific stalls if requested and Lesley even baked and brought along a cake for us to all enjoy on the day!

In September 2022, the Community Connector team launched a new ‘Memory Lane’ Dementia Café in collaboration with Parkhaven Trust in Maghull, a group that Lesley and Stuart were extremely keen to support and help contribute to its success from the first time it was mentioned to the Community Champion team. Their involvement in the big launch was fantastic, welcoming our new attendees by making conversation and putting them quickly at ease with their warm and friendly demeanours. 6 months on Lesley and Stuart continue to offer their time each month to come along to the group and are always on hand to assist in whatever way is needed of them on the day. The feedback about Lesley and Stuart from the family members of those living with Dementia has been incredible and it is clear they are a valued duo of the group.

‘Memory Lane’ launch September 2021

At the start of 2023, with the support of the current Maghull Community Connector Joe Westall, Lesley and Stuart became involved in the ‘Cosy Café’ organised by Maghull Town Hall as part of the Sefton Council ‘Warm Spaces’ initiative. Lesley and Stuart enjoy helping with the meals and making attendees welcome at this group as they do the ‘Memory Lane’ café and have told us how much they enjoy it.

We are so proud to have Lesley and Stuart as valued members of our fantastic team of Community Champions and it is delightful to be able to look back and see how much support they have offered over the last 2 years since becoming registered with us.

We asked Lesley and Stuart if they would like to offer their own thoughts to add to our case study and this is what they told us:

“What we get out of being a volunteer exceeds the time we put into it. We find it both uplifting and enjoyable. To see people’s faces light up and the positive comments makes it even more worthwhile and rewarding.”

If you would like to volunteer as a Community Champion, then apply here today.