What started a placement quickly turned into a passion.

We ask the Coneygear Centre, Huntingdon to tell us about one of their inspirational volunteers. Here is what they told us about the fantastic Abi.

“Abi initially came to the Coneygear Centre as a work placement on her Health and Social Care course at Huntingdon Regional College, working with older people. 

Abi has finished her placement and has chosen to stay on as a volunteer for the centre. She plays a vital role in our community café, running it single handedly when required! She is always keen to learn and has passed her Food Hygiene Level 2 Certificate.

Abi also volunteers in the community library assisting people with loaning and returning books and very easily learned the Spydus Library Software. Due to no longer having a regular Library volunteer, tasks had built up and there were more than two hundred books to catalogue and process on the system to shelve them. Abi spent her time processing these books for the library, cataloguing, and querying where relevant.

She is proactive in her duties and will undertake any task necessary to ensure the smooth running of the warm hub community space, from making tea, playing dominos, and supporting art therapy tasks to helping with garden related activities, tidying the centre and preparing for events.

Abi is kind, patient and friendly to our visitors and will spend time chatting or assisting them with craft activities. Some people that regularly attend our community space are vulnerable adults and she is always happy to sit and spend time with them. She listens and gives support where she can and refers to staff if there are further needs to address.

She has boosted the confidence of peer volunteers and enabled them to continue to grow and develop by undertaking the tasks that they find difficult.

Abi has become an integral part of the centre; she is part of the team, and our space thrives with her in it. She always has a smile on her face, a positive attitude and shows compassion and kindness to all who visit the centre. She always goes above and beyond in any situation.

Abi also supports adults with additional needs within our space, she is so calm and considerate with her approach to situations and continually strives to develop herself further to support those within our setting.

We are very lucky to have her volunteer her time with us here.”