Improving feelings of connectedness for both individuals and communities

Over the last year, we have increasingly heard about the cumulative impact that social isolation, due to Covid-19 restrictions, has had on individuals, volunteers and voluntary sector organisations.

Whilst volunteering is often thought of in terms of alleviating loneliness in others, research conducted by the What Works Centre for Wellbeing found that the act of volunteering itself is associated with enhanced wellbeing, both for individual volunteers and for communities as a whole. Volunteering involves being with others, which helps volunteers feel less isolated and gives them a sense of purpose and connection to others.

Read our blog

Our development officer, Colleen Allwood, shares her thoughts on how volunteering can enhance your mental wellbeing and tackle feelings on loneliness in this blog.

Information to help you

We’ve put together two information sheets that bring together a wealth of innovative ideas on how to help volunteers maintain their feelings of connectedness and well-being if their roles are paused. Both resources illustrate the importance of staying in touch with others and offer tips and suggestions on how to achieve this.

There are two information sheets: one for volunteers and one for volunteer involving organisations.

Listen to our podcasts

Colleen chatted to three Marie Curie volunteers about how their volunteering roles as Helper Volunteers have helped to combat loneliness, not only in their service users lives but also in their own lives.

You can listen to either the full interview or dip into inspiring snippets below.