Care and Share Companionship seeks volunteers

'Care and Share Companionship' was launched in April by Theresa Naylor and the organisation is busy recruiting volunteers to help create a network which can assist senior citizens initially in the Kirkcaldy and Central Fife area.

Theresa was the guest speaker at Cowdenbeath Rotary Club when she explained how the charity came into being.

She said: "When I was working with Marie Curie I saw how important it was for people to have access to contact and companionship.

"So when I ceased working for the organisation I felt there was a need for a charitable group to provide support for people who want it.

"I saw in my time with Marie Curie how people who lost someone often felt totally lost. To have visits from people who can listen and provide assistance can be of such a real boost to them."

In a relatively short period of time Theresa has seen 'Care and Share Companionship' recruit seven volunteers who are receiving training and will soon be able to go out and provide the sort of support that can make a real difference to people's lives.

She added: "At the moment we are based in Kirkcaldy and hope to be able to provide care and share companionship to people in the coming weeks and months.

"The aim is to build the number of volunteers up and if we are successful in that we may be able to expand the number of people we can help."

Taking things very much one step at a time, Theresa has been delighted to receive some funding from Fife Health and Social Partnership and CSC is geared to raising money to support the mechanism which will see volunteers receive travelling expenses for their visits to clients.

Rotary Club president Norman Black was able to tell Theresa that the group had already taken a decision to make a donation to Care and Share Companionship which delighted her.

Concluded Theresa: "The two most important people in our organisation are the client and the volunteer and everything will be geared to making sure the partnership works perfectly."