Find out about how volunteering with Focus has given Valerie focus and purpose in life.

Valerie says, “I started volunteering at Focus about 11 years ago and needed something to make me feel worthwhile and helping people with sight loss gave that to me. I have worked on the helpline for the majority of time I have been at Focus. This is the first point of contact for most people phoning into the charity.  I feel valued knowing my time and support is making a real difference to the people we support.

Over the years I’ve also helped at the popular coffee mornings held in Handsworth, these are always fun and full of interesting people. Interacting with different types of people is such as great experience and you get to hear all sorts of fascinating stories”. 

Giving some of your spare time to support our vital work goes a long way and will help us to continue to make lives better.

Valerie adds, “Another part of my volunteering journey was to sit on the service user’s participation group. This is a great place for service users to suggest ideas that would improve the help that Focus offers. I am also part of the befriending team, I phone people with sight loss once a week to have a friendly chat. I try to make them laugh in our weekly calls, and this gives me a great deal of satisfaction. Focus Birmingham has given me a purpose in life and the reward it gives me far outweighs the effort I put in.”

If you would like to know more about our volunteering opportunities and how you can support our vital work, click here