Following on from the confirmation of Big Lottery Funding we launched a recruitment drive for willing volunteers. From one advert placed in a Carers Special Feature in the local newspaper we received 27 expressions of interest for all types of advocacy training. We managed not to scare most of them off and 14 have confirmed that they wanted to become Volunteer Advocates and 4 have decided that they want to share their own personal experience of cancer and be Peer Advocates.
We recently held 2 blocks of general advocacy training and the volunteers wanting to be Peer Advocates are in the process of doing the Macmillan online training and Cancer Advocacy training over the next 2 weeks.
Volunteer Co-ordinator Margaret Lambert (Back row left) with some of our new Volunteers
Patricia Wallis is a cancer survivor herself and has recently cared for her sister who sadly passed away after a cancer diagnosis. “I want to be able to share my experience of caring for my sister through her end of life so that another older person affecting by cancer may have a better experience than my sister and my family had.” She added “Support from hospices for end of life at home, comes in too late and some of the medical profession talk in language which is not always easy to understand particularly when you are hearing news that knocks you for six. I am so looking forward to starting my new role volunteering at Sefton Pensioners’ Advocacy, the advert really caught my attention and the training has been really interesting.”
Patricia Wallis pictured on the right at her recent general advocacy training
Volunteer Co-ordinator Margaret Lambert added “It is really great to have all these committed and willing volunteers. We have been so impressed with the diverse experience of our new volunteers, from a retired medical doctor to a tennis coach who was a lines-woman at Wimbledon. It all makes for some really interesting stories”
Karen Pierce, Sefton Pensioners’ Advocacy
Older People Living with Cancer 