THE CLIFFDEN BUDDIES SIGHTED GUIDE SCHEME

My name is Julian or Jules Griffen, and I would like to introduce you to a new and hopefully very rewarding volunteering opportunity in Teignmouth.

The town of Teignmouth has always been a popular holiday destination for blind and partially sighted people, thanks to its former links with the RNIB and Guide Dogs for the blind Association. As a totally blind person myself, I often find it difficult to fully enjoy holidays in the area, unless I am accompanied by a fully sighted friend or family member. Going on holiday is something which most people take for granted, but if you have little or no useful eyesight, exploring new or unfamiliar places independently can often be stressful or even impossible to achieve. I therefore wanted to come up with a solution, involving local people in Teignbridge.

I recently set up the Cliffden Buddies sighted guide scheme, and we currently have a team of around 20 local volunteers. These wonderful people are already providing an invaluable and much appreciated support service for visually impaired (or VI) people who visit or take holidays in the region. As word is spreading about this initiative, I am concerned that demand will soon outweigh supply. I would therefore love to grow and develop our Buddy team, to avoid disappointing anybody who request sighted guide support when taking holidays in the region.

To secure the future of the Cliffden Buddies scheme, and make it more official, I am delighted that the Manager of Volunteering in Health (Julia Street) has offered to take us onboard as a partner within the charity.

Seen here, Jules and Julia and sighted guides, signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); a non-binding agreement; that outlines the intention of how Volunteering in Health and the Cliffden Buddies Scheme will collaborate and work in partnership.

If you think that you would like to become part of this exciting project, please feel free to contact us at the following email address: jules.griffen22@outlook.com

If you’d like to learn more about ViH in general, please contact us on 01626 771695 or email info@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk.

If you think that you would like to become part of this exciting project, please feel free to contact me at the following email address: Jules Griffen – cliffden.buddies@outlook.com



Volunteers Week 2025

#VolunteersWeek  we had a fantastic turnout for our final event of the week – a celebration tea party at the ViH hub at Teignmouth Hospital. A lovely catch-up with more of our amazing volunteers. We‘ve had such a brilliant Volunteers Week, thank you to everyone who has organised or supported our events this week. YOU make a difference!



Ashleigh Way Telephone Box Raises Over £1000!

Wow! Our charity phone box at Ashleigh Way has now raised over £1,000! Julia recently popped down to say a huge thank you to Andrew at Ashleigh Way Stores & Post Office for supporting ViH. We‘d also like to add our thanks to everyone who has visited the phone box and made donations. Every donation, no matter how small, really does make a difference and helps ViH to continue to support the local community. Thank you.



Could you drive for us and make a huge difference!

Are you able to support a local charity and your community? Do you have access to a car, enjoy driving and meeting new people?

Can you give a little time to help people attend vital medical and hospital appointments? Do you want your volunteering to work around you, you decide what drives you do and when?

Our amazing Transport Service provides 1200+ drives and travels approx. 30,000 miles a year!

It’s not just about driving. Drivers are a lifeline for families and people who live alone, a listening ear and supporting arm when they are most needed. The Transport team share ideas, to help improve the service.

Volunteers are invited to training, social events and wellbeing catch ups, even the occasional sea dip, so it’s a great way to meet new people too.

Please contact Anna Lavis 01626 771695 or info@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk



Annual Report 2023-2024

Click here to download the Annual Report – 2023 – 204 >>



Hurrah! It’s The May 2024 Volunteer Newsletter!

 

View the newsletter here >>

 

Warm regards to you all,

Annabelle Murray

ViH Volunteer Coordinator
https://www.stress.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-month/

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992 to increase public
awareness about both the causes of and cures for the modern stress epidemic.



Hurrah! It’s The April 2024 Volunteer Newsletter!

 

View the newsletter here >>

 

Warm regards to you all,

Annabelle Murray

ViH Volunteer Coordinator
https://www.stress.org.uk/national-stress-awareness-month/

Stress Awareness Month has been held every April since 1992 to increase public
awareness about both the causes of and cures for the modern stress epidemic.



Hurrah! It’s The Volunteer Newsletter No 3 for March!

Annabelle Murray
From:annabelle.murray@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk
To:Annabelle Murray
Fri, 15 Mar at 10:08
Dear All Our Wonderful Volunteers,
March Newsletter!  Click the link below   🙂
Here is the latest news from ViH – this month it is packed with lots of information.
Just to help you know how you can navigate this better, here’s some helpful tips:
  • When you click a ‘sign up’ link .. it will create a box – just tick the ‘trust all links in this Sway for this session’, then OK.  This will enable you to follow any of the links in the newsletter.
  • To help you navigate the articles in the newsletter (as there are a lot!) there is a helpful tool on the bottom right corner.  It is a grey square with lines in it.  This will show you only the titles of the articles, and you can press the one you want and read it from there.  This is helpful if you don’t like to scroll through the whole newsletter!
Going forward,  I will be using this format each month so you will quickly get used to using it, so please don’t get stressed!
The newsletter will be the centre for any information I want to relay to you.  So please do check out all the vital information in it.  Let me know how you get on and what you have enjoyed reading and the information you have found the most useful to have,
Many thanks
Annabelle 🙂
Dear Volunteers,

Annabelle Murray

Volunteer Coordinator

 

Telephone  01626 771695

Email annabelle.murray@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk

 or info@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk

 

Work days: Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday 9.30am -3pm

 

Volunteering in Health Coastal Information Centre

Teignmouth Hospital, Mill Lane, Teignmouth, TQ14 9BQ

Tel 01626 771695

 

www.volunteeringinhealth.co.uk

Charity Reg No 1182615

We are currently experiencing a very high demand for our services

Wellbeing Coordination – we are taking referrals

Wellbeing HOPE Courses – we have availability and are currently taking referrals for future groups.

Face to Face Befriending – we currently have a waiting list for face to face befriending

Telephone Befriending – we are taking referrals

Dementia – we are taking referrals

Sitting service – We currently have a waiting list of 8-10 weeks

Home Help  – we currently have a waiting list of 6-8 weeks

We regularly review to update these lead times. Thank you for your patience



HURRAH! It’s the February Volunteer Newsletter!!!! No 2!

Dear All Our Wonderful Volunteers,
Here is the latest news from ViH – this month it is packed with lots of information, and as you will see it is in a new format!
Just to help you know how you can navigate this better, here’s some helpful tips:
  • When you click a ‘sign up’ link .. it will create a box – just tick the ‘trust all links in this Sway for this session’, then OK.  This will enable you to follow any of the links in the newsletter.
  • To help you navigate the articles in the newsletter (as there are a lot!) there is a helpful tool on the bottom right corner.  It is a grey square with lines in it.  This will show you only the titles of the articles, and you can press the one you want and read it from there.  This is helpful if you don’t like to scroll through the whole newsletter!
Going forward,  I will be using this format each month so you will quickly get used to using it, so please don’t get stressed!
The newsletter will be the centre for any information I want to relay to you.  So please do check out all the vital information in it.  Let me know how you get on – as this is a new ‘thing’ for all of us!
Many thanks
Annabelle 🙂

 

Can you believe it… we are already in the middle of February?! ‘Time waits for no man’ and here at ViH, we are continuing to strive to make our volunteers’ experience richer and more con…

Annabelle Murray

Volunteer Coordinator

 

Telephone  01626 771695

Email annabelle.murray@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk

 or info@volunteeringinhealth.co.uk

 

Work days: Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday 9.30am -3pm

 

Volunteering in Health Coastal Information Centre

Teignmouth Hospital, Mill Lane, Teignmouth, TQ14 9BQ

Tel 01626 771695

 

www.volunteeringinhealth.co.uk

Charity Reg No 1182615

We are currently experiencing a very high demand for our services

Wellbeing Coordination – we are taking referrals

Wellbeing HOPE Courses – we have availability and are currently taking referrals for future groups.

Face to Face Befriending – we currently have a waiting list for face to face befriending

Telephone Befriending – we are taking referrals

Dementia – we are taking referrals

Sitting service – We currently have a waiting list of 8-10 weeks

Home Help  – we currently have a waiting list of 6-8 weeks

We regularly review to update these lead times. Thank you for your patience



We are recruiting! Services Coordinator

Services Coordinator advert Feb 24