With it being #VolunteersWeek it's a great opportunity to showcase Pioneering Care Partnership (PCP) Trustee, Mark Sacco.
Read below Mark's journey from initially volunteering with our County Durham Resilience service, to becoming PCP Trustee.
"After the lockdown I wanted to help people who had experienced stress during the pandemic. So many of us were looking for a 'new normal', and the possibility of helping others gave me a sense of meaning as well as hope. This led me to volunteer for the County Resilience Team in Durham.
"During training I learned about PCP as an organisation and was impressed with the charity’s compassion, dynamism, and commitment to excellence. I wanted to learn more about an organisation that could be strong in all these areas at the same time, and I wanted to be part of this. I was delighted when my application to serve as a Trustee was supported.
"The County Resilience service offers support to adults who have low to mild difficulties with their emotional and physical wellbeing. A member of the team will have up to 12 regular meetings with an individual, typically meeting every couple of weeks. This might be in a café, community centre or out for a walk – somewhere public. The Team also offers some group meetings.
"Everyone is an individual and we take a person-centred approach. Although many experience conditions such as anxiety, depression, and phobias, we don’t treat these but support people through them. We help people identify goals and provide a listening ear as people rehearse and develop their own ideas.
"PCP has partnered with other organisations to bring a range of skills to the team.
"When I first started, I was introduced to my volunteer supporter Lynda Dixon who works for Northern Learning Trust, one of the partners. Lynda gave me my induction including access to a wide range of training and on-going support. My training has included developing skills for a helping relationship, equality and diversity, mental health awareness, risk assessment, data protection, and safeguarding. I enjoy learning.
"PCP involves Trustees in decision making and in overseeing the charity at a strategic level. There is a genuine commitment to good practice in charity governance, a regular cycle of meetings, and meetings are friendly and well organised. Everyone is encouraged to contribute and to ask questions. The time commitment for the Trustee role averages about 7 or 8 hours a month.
"PCP is a complex organisation. I learned a lot from looking at the website and reading the annual reports. I was impressed by the Trustee Information Pack – this gave me confidence that the approach had been thought through and was sound.
"Volunteering contributes to my sense of purpose and meaning in life. I feel closer to the community where I live, I'm learning new skills and I’m glad to support PCP’s mission of 'Health, Wellbeing and Learning for All.'
"Volunteering can be very rewarding. It’s a great way to pursue an interest and gain experience. PCP has a variety of roles for volunteers and will look for ways to accommodate your interests and skills. Have a look at PCP’s website for ideas! Staff and volunteers are friendly and you’re welcome to get in touch for a chat."
As Mark said, we have a variety of roles for volunteering opportunities, if this is something you're interested in, please visit our volunteering page here.
Roles are available across a variety of PCP's projects and services. If you can't see anything that suits you, get in touch with us and we can see if we can accommodate your skills!