King's Lynn homeless charity volunteers honoured at civic presentation
Certificates were presented to Purfleet Trust volunteers in a ceremony at Lynn’s town hall marking Volunteers’ Week.
More than 40 people currently work for the organisation in a voluntary capacity and its volunteer co-ordinator, Toni Pegg, said their contribution was invaluable.
She said: “Without them we simply would not be able to operate.
“Some hesitate to offer their services because they feel they are not sufficiently skilled or do not have the correct training and therefore have nothing to offer.
“In fact everyone has something to offer and we would be delighted to hear from anyone, even those who can give us only a couple of hours.
“We cannot reward them – other than to say a big thank you.”
Borough mayor Nick Daubney, who made the presentations, added: “Having made the trust one of my charities during my year of office it was most appropriate that this presentation should be one of my first duties.”
One of their volunteers is Emma Amir, from Clenchwarton, who combines being a full-time carer for her husband with leading the trust’s literacy teaching work.
She said: “The trust is just a lovely place to be and you feel you are doing something really worthwhile.
“I trained as a hairdresser and beautician, not as a teacher. “But here I am helping people who have fallen through the education ‘net’.
“I can remember the children who sat at the back of the class and were overlooked – some were never taught the basics. For them finding work is next to impossible. And it is not until you start to study English again that you appreciate just how difficult it is.”
Receptionist Sally Osborn learned about the trust during its appeal for supplies of socks after moving to Dersingham three years ago.
Chief executive Paula Hall said: “Coming to the trust is not easy for someone who has been in isolation on the streets, and it is important to ensure that they are not frightened away.
“Having the right person on the reception desk is vital, someone who is not alarming nor dictatorial, someone who is welcoming and understanding, someone who can meet and greet all kinds of people. That person is Sally.”
Sally Beadle, who runs Crazy Bananas at Pott Row, helps to bring some fun into the lives of people who have turned to the trust for help.
She said: “You might consider that balloon art is entirely frivolous and we should be teaching something far more serious.
“But when people are absorbed in a simple, fun occupation they relax, begin to talk, and that’s when you find aspects about them that you might never have learned.
“These can be serious matters, which might have an effect upon the way the trust can help them. They tell you about the things they have never mentioned before because they don’t want to be a bother.”
Antanas Luote came to England from his native Lithuania 16 years ago and has worked as both a bus and lorry driver.
But, when two strokes which damaged the left side of his body stopped him from working, they did not stop him wanting to help others.
He now spends a day a week driving trust staff to the houses they administer and carries out general delivering and collecting for the housing team.
He said: “I want to contribute, and though I can no longer work I can drive.”
Mr Daubney said: “I know well the kind of commitment volunteers give and was determined that if I ever became mayor, the trust would be one of my charities.
“It has been good to meet the caring people who are involved in its work and already they have demonstrated that my choice was a sound one.”
Anyone interested in volunteering for the trust should phone 01553 767829 for more details.
