Friday, 13 June 2014

Lend DAST a Hand

Derbyshire Asbestos Support Team are unfortunately dealing with an increasing amount of cases. We are now carrying out around 10 home visits each week – and when some of those cases are as far away as Northampton or Grimsby this is a big strain on our resources. Natalie carries out the majority of the visits, while Joanne helps out where she can fit them around her own workload.  We also now have occasional support from Paul Marklew, who usually works for Derbyshire Unemployed Workers’ Centres.  Even so, it is proving to be a strain – and if Natalie wants to take a much-needed holiday it causes chaos!

We are currently advertising for support in carrying out our home visits.  We were recently awarded a grant from Derbyshire Community Foundation to recruit and train two new advice volunteers to cover our home county.  We have also been advertising for volunteer drivers.  If we can find someone with their own transport who enjoys driving (with petrol expenses paid) that would be a great help.  Our policies state that home visits shouldn’t be carried out alone – plus having someone to drive Natalie to her visits means that she can put some of the travelling time to good use.

Unfortunately, we have had very little response to our calls for help. Do you know anyone who might be interested?  We’d be very keen to talk to them!

William Bear wants to know if he can volunteer to help eat that cake
Sarah has also recently put out a call for voluntary help in the fundraising department.  As DAST go out and help more people…then their families and friends all want to help us in return.  Events are being organised throughout the region and because we are such a small staff, it can be tricky for us to give support to everyone.  We are asking if anyone out there would like to become a regional DAST community fundraiser, who would act as our representative in their county. Again, all reasonable expenses would be paid.


Volunteering is good for you!  Why not give it a go…?

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