COVID-19 Volunteer Case Studies

VODA’s Good Neighbours project coordinates a host of friendly volunteers who are keen to support their local community. During these difficult times, we have worked hard to help as many people with grocery shopping, collecting prescriptions, odd DIY jobs and community buddy support.   Spotlight  Mike has volunteered in North Tyneside for many years. He has begun […]

Local writer and director Alexandra Wolley produced this powerful spoken word piece to reflect on people’s experiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sherrill moved to the North East from Cambridge four years ago. She had worked in recruitment for many years, but decided it was time for a change, as she didn’t feel like she was really living life. So, one day she decided that there had to be more to life than working too many hours […]

Law student, NUS delegate, asylum seeker and volunteer MD Mominul Hamid believes in following his Mother’s legacy ”Be there for your community and be there for your people and something good will happen in return” and as a result recently won The Extra Mile Award in the National Societies & Volunteering Awards. Alongside his other […]

Volunteer Kevin Dickinson has become a bit of a celebrity at North Tyneside’s GP-led vaccination clinics with his collection of silly hats. From what started out of necessity on a cold December’s day needing to keep warm, Kevin soon realised that his hats were a useful distraction to people who may be feeling anxious and […]

The Power of Youth Day, which takes place on 2 June during Volunteers’ Week, is an annual celebration of the contributions children and young people make to society through volunteering and social action. It’s a chance to spotlight the achievements of children and young people. In North Tyneside, children and young people have donated their time to a huge variety of volunteering […]

Charlie got involved with volunteering as he doesn’t like sitting around. He has worked all his life, starting off as a merchant navy engineer and then became a mechanical engineer. Charlie’s wife passed away four years ago and the company he was working for asked if he wanted to take retirement but advised him to […]

As part of our Volunteers’ Week celebrations, Paul Hanson – Chief Executive of North Tyneside Council – shared his message of thanks to the volunteers who have supported the North Tyneside community during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Look up!! A flock of nearly 140 Pigeons* has swooped in to help to protect our communities in North Tyneside by helping to share trusted messages about Covid-19! Our 140 Community Health Champions (*affectionately known as Pigeons) have been doing a phenomenal job of helping to make sure key updates about the vaccination programme and […]

Our volunteers have been a lifeline during the Covid pandemic for many residents. We managed to capture just a few of the messages of gratitude they wanted to share with the volunteers to say thank you for being there for them when they felt at their most vulnerable.   Lillian Bell Melanie Milburn Dorothy Kershaw […]

Volunteer Peter Mortimer kindly shared an excerpt with us of his musings on being vaccinated… Meantime, off for the second jab at The Parks, North Shields. I felt cheated when the first jab produced no symptoms while the odd friend boasted of dizziness, fatigue, coughing or possibly St.Vitus dance. The second jab produces few side […]

NT LIFE Recovery College relies on the support of volunteer facilitators to deliver its programme of sessions designed to help people manage their own mental health and wellbeing. NT LIFE had to quickly adapt to online provision when Covid hit and has provided many students with vital support during these difficult times. “The facilitators at […]

First published on the NAVCA website When recruiting a new team member during the Covid 19 pandemic, VODA (NAVCA member from North Tyneside) attempted to redress the traditional recruitment power-balance by sharing the interview questions with the applicants in advance of the interview. After all, it’s not an exam is it? The results were fantastic. […]

Starting a new charity is never easy, but for Dawn Jobey (pictured left) her dream of creating Little1Stop to support young parents who are struggling to provide the essentials for their babies was not going to be put off by a global pandemic! Dawn met Julie Hill at her local slimming club and after sharing […]

Carolyn Milburn, Marketing & Communications lead at our partner Moving On Tyne and Wear shares with us her experiencing of volunteering with VODA… I joined MOTW in July of last year, and soon learnt about their fantastic charity partner VODA who provide support, advice and training to volunteers and voluntary and community groups operating in […]

Moving On Tyne and Wear (MOTW) is an employability project with the aim of moving people into employment or training. The project also includes volunteering opportunities to build on skills such as team work, communication and motivation as well as growing in confidence. A number of volunteering options are available across North Tyneside depending on […]

William [aged 26] and Franklin [aged 23] are Asylum Seekers from El Salvador that were housed in North Shields by the Home Office when they entered the UK in February 2020. As a young gay couple they had experienced persecution, violence, discrimination and prejudice in their home land due entirely to their sexual orientation. They […]

Students from Newcastle University’s Geography school teamed up with VODA to create isolation activity packs for children in North Tyneside who have been shielding at home and unable to return to school. The students, with a little help from a local schoolgirl who gave up her afternoon to volunteer, spent a busy afternoon putting together almost […]

Gerry Robinson 81, retired Aircraft Engineer, is an experienced Volunteer Befriender with Age UK North Tyneside. Supporting befriendees in our community since 2015, Gerry usually visits befriendees in their home environment to help reduce their social isolation and loneliness. When the nation entered lockdown in March 2020, Gerry recognised that it was going to be […]

Andy is an ‘ex Southerner’ who has lived in the North East for more than 20 years. He has more than 30 plus years’ experience of working in HR, most recently at Teesside University and Gateshead Council. Lockdown came and Andy wanted to do something to help and keep busy. He didn’t feel he knew […]