Keeping busy and making friends

After I suffered a back injury following a very active and varied career in engineering, I was disappointed to learn that I was unable to continue full time work. I didn’t want to let my injury get me down and knew that I needed to keep as busy as possible. 

I thought volunteering for a charity would be a perfect outlet for my energy. It would offer me a new challenge and the opportunity to meet new people. 

After researching many charities in my local area, I was particularly interested in the befriender role with the Leonard Cheshire service in Glencaple, Dumfries. This is how I came to meet George.

As a younger man George likes to keep active, just like me, and wanted to use his energy on meaningful activities. It seemed like the perfect fit! It quickly became clear that George and I were going to get on well and we were able to communicate effectively from the start. 

George was a big fan of my ‘handyman’ skills and was keen to be able to work with me on projects like painting and sanding, with a bit of banter thrown into the mix.

As well as working together and playing pool at George’s supported living service, we have also taken a number of trips out by car to places like wildlife centres and animal parks. George loves nature, particularly seeing live animals like birds of prey, so it’s a real please to share those experiences with him. He was particularly amused when we came across a pot-bellied pig named George at an animal sanctuary!

Through our great rapport we have also been able to achieve great results at the service. Together we have transformed the vegetable patch, where a great selection of potatoes and vegetables now flourish and have built a wooden hut for George to enjoy in the garden. We even worked together to rebuild a 40-year-old trike to ‘as good as new’ condition and have since donated it to another charity. 

I absolutely love working as a befriender for Leonard Cheshire. I have found a friend in George and seeing the pleasure he gets from the projects we work on has been really gratifying. 

As well as volunteering role, I also do some fundraising with collection cans in the local area. This is another great opportunity to meet new people, including tourists from all over the world, and talk about what Leonard Cheshire is all about!