Supporting people in Teignmouth, Dawlish and Chudleigh to make positive changes to their health and wellbeing
News
How can we help you?
Supporting
We support people to live happily, safely and independently in their own homes for as long as possible.
Connecting
We help people find and access a range of services and activities that are right for them.
Empowering
We work with people to help them understand what’s important to them so they can set themselves realistic goals.
How can you help us?
Volunteer
We are always looking for volunteers to join our team and offer a range of flexible opportunities.
Fundraise
As a small local charity we rely on fundraising, and you can be confident that all money raised will stay in your local community.
Donate
Click here to make a donation to support our work so that we can continue reaching out to the people who need us most.
Our Projects
Don’t Bottle It Up
One of the local pub landlords came to us in 2018 after several of his staff and customers reported that they weren’t getting the mental health support they needed. We arranged a free two-hour mental health awareness training session for bar staff to get some basic knowledge of mental health issues and where to go for further support and to ensure that they knew we were there for them! We also did a poster campaign and “Beat the Winter Blues” fundraising event in Spring 2019 to raise awareness.
Pen Pals
In 2016 we started an intergenerational pen pals project with Shaldon Primary School where we matched each year 6 pupil with one of our clients. They wrote letters to each other and invited the pen pals into school at least once a term for different events such as a concert, clay tile making, portrait drawing, maypole dancing, leavers assembly and more. The project is still going strong with the new class each year and the school was even shortlisted for the Tes Awards Primary School of the Year in 2018.
Reminiscence Sessions
We started running Reminiscence Sessions in 2013, visiting various care homes and Dawlish Hospital. The sessions are now run every Tuesday afternoon at Palm Court Nursing Home in Dawlish. Each week a topic is chosen and relevant props are taken to prompt memories about that topic—for example, family, holidays, school, work, Christmas.
Music to my Years
As part of our Reminiscence Sessions, we also offer this project, working with people who have dementia to create a playlist of songs that bring back happy memories.
The HOPE Course
Help Overcoming Problems Effectively
The HOPE course is a six-week course designed to boost confidence and resilience so that people can take more control over their own health and set and reach other goals for themselves too. Our HOPE facilitator shares her experiences here.
KEEPING HOPE
Everyone who has attended the HOPE course is invited to get together every week at The Alice Cross Centre to continue friendships and to support each other in keeping up with their goals.
Ashleigh Way Phone Box
VIH Connect
We have a name!
After all of the suggestions sent to us directly and on social media, we selected VIH Connect by voting for our favourite from the list.
I think Connect is a great name because we want to connect with our community so we can make sure people who need our services can find out how to contact us easily.
I hope you take the opportunity to visit VIH Connect and check out the range of books and other leisure materials, there is a great range for all ages. We have already raised £90 from the donations given to date.
Please take the opportunity to see how Volunteering in Health can help you or someone you know.
Thank you to everyone who has helped with this project especially Andrew of Ashleigh Way Post Office.
Get in Touch
If you would like to volunteer for us, or if you would like to refer yourself or a loved one for any of our services, please complete the contact form below and we will get back to you as soon as possible
Volunteering in Health, Teignmouth Hospital, Mill Lane, Teignmouth TQ14 9BQ
Charity Number
1182615