“It gives me a wonderful reason to get up every morning.”

Triangle Community Garden: Volunteers Needed to Keep This Vital Space Thriving Nestled in the heart of Hitchin, Triangle Community Garden is more than just a green space—it’s a place where people come together to learn, grow, and connect. Throughout the week, the Triangle Garden runs Growing Ability, a therapeutic horticulture project for people with support needs, Tuesdays to Thursdays. On Fridays and weekends, it opens its gates to the public, inviting local people to cultivate and care for its community nature gardens in Ransom's Recreation Ground. However, to keep this invaluable resource thriving, the garden urgently needs more volunteers, particularly for their mid-week activities. Why Volunteers Matter Volunteers are essential to the garden’s success. They support staff in running its Growing Ability sessions, and with general upkeep of the gardens, helping to ensure that everyone who visits can enjoy a fulfilling and educational experience. If more volunteers step forward, the garden could expand its activities, allowing even more people to benefit from its therapeutic activities. What They Need The garden involves friendly, reliable volunteers who don’t mind a bit of chilly weather and enjoy helping others. Ideally, session volunteers can commit to coming every week, but the garden also maintains a volunteer bank for those who can help on a less frequent basis and you may be able to support occasional events. No prior experience is necessary—just enthusiasm and a willingness to get stuck in! Meet Sarah: A Volunteer Making a Difference Sarah, a local resident and recently retired paediatric nurse, found her volunteering opportunity through GoVolHerts some time ago. With a love of gardening and a desire to try something new, she was excited to join Triangle Community Garden’s Wednesday afternoon sessions for adults with support needs. Each Wednesday from 12:30 to 3:00 pm, Sarah assists the staff by helping with gardening, craft or cooking activities, and providing general support. She receives a session plan in advance, so she knows what to expect, but there’s no prep required—just a willingness to lend a hand. By simply being there, Sarah helps the staff offer more activities, such as taking participants on walks. Through this role, Sarah has formed strong connections with the project's participants. She finds it incredibly rewarding to see them grow in confidence, become more active in the group, and develop their skills. Despite her background in a caring profession, she had no prior experience working with adults with learning disabilities, and she has found this new experience both enriching and enjoyable. Holly’s Story: A Participant Thriving in the Garden Holly has been attending the garden’s courses for a long time and absolutely loves it. While she enjoys all aspects of the program, she has taken a particular interest in helping new students settle in. She also plays a key role in preparing for the Growing Ability plant stall day, held on the first Thursday of each month. Recently, Holly has developed a keen enthusiasm for wellbeing and healthy eating, an interest sparked by another participant. Since embracing a healthier lifestyle, she has even lost weight and now actively encourages others to stay active and eat well. The session leaders have noted a huge boost in Holly’s confidence—she has gone from being reserved to sharing health tips with fellow participants. Get Involved Triangle Community Garden is making a real difference in people’s lives, but they need more volunteers to keep going. Whether you can commit to a regular slot or just help occasionally, your time and effort will be greatly valued. If you’d like to get involved or learn more about current roles click here .

Safe Space Mentoring is available to 11-19 year olds across Hertfordshire in year 7 -13 (up to 25 years for those with learning difficulties and/or disabilities). The aim of the Mentoring programme is to equip the young person with the necessary skills to make informed and positive choices in their lives. It is made clear to the young person that mentoring is a positive step and not as a result of them doing anything wrong; mentoring is voluntary. Case Study: Jamie and Oliver (names have been changed for confidentiality) Oliver was referred to Safe Space mentoring by Carers in Herts in October and started working with his mentor, Jamie in November. Oliver is a young carer for his mother who has severe mental health problems as well as a learning difficulty. Oliver’s father has no contact, and the only family live many miles away in a different county. Oliver has not been in school for 10 months having experienced severe bullying in his previous school. There were no other professionals involved. He was waiting for a school place at another school at the time of the referral but this has not been offered. Oliver said he wanted a mentor so that someone could understand him, have someone to care and someone he could feel comfortable with. The referrer wanted him to have a break from his caring role. Oliver engaged well with his mentor from the very beginning and has been reliable and open to suggestions. Oliver has coped well with lots of disappointments throughout the time we have been working with him, including his place at a new school being withdrawn and his application for a special college being rejected by the SEND panel. He has been open about his desire to return to school but realistic about his ability to cope in a mainstream setting. His mentor has been able to support him with some aspects of learning by, for example helping him to access the local library and go though some maths questions with him. He has also written a letter of support for the school placement appeal, having got to know him and his needs well over the course of the last few months. As well as supporting Oliver with not being in school, Jamie has also encouraged him to get out of the house. Oliver and his mum hardly leave the house, and Oliver is quite nervous about meeting other young people due to previous bullying incidents. The mentor has gone on dog walks with him and it seems, also provided some informal dog training! Oliver is still not confident at leaving the house and needs quite a lot of support with this aspect of his life. Oliver said: “Walking the dog has built my confidence, I’m much happier and a large part of this is due to Jamie.” Feedback from Oliver’s mother: “After Oliver speaks to Jamie he’s in like a bubble floating in the air. We call Jamie our human angel” For all available roles at Safe Space click here .

Caudwell Youth: Volunteer Case Study Caudwell Youth mentors at-risk young people aged 11-24 years into new futures. Founded in 2022 by four co-leaders with experience of charity-led mentoring provision and philanthropist John Caudwell. They are determined to ensure that the needs of at-risk young people are properly addressed. We talked to Alison Crook, a volunteer mentor at Caudwell Youth who has been supporting Luke. Luke has been part of the Caudwell Youth Collective – a group made up of young people across all our areas that support the charity vision, they get to have input on lots of areas from marketing to being on the interview panel for our next CEO. What Prompted You to Become a Volunteer Mentor? My plan, when I was able to reduce my regular workload, was to put something together to persuade large corporations to provide some sort guaranteed training apprentice for 3 years to care leavers and to contribute to purpose built care leaver flats in which to reside whilst they were under apprenticeship, with support, afterwards, to move forwards. This young person volunteering, I thought would give me better insights into the issues surrounding care leavers and the support that is necessary. It is doing just this! How Often do You Volunteer for Caudwell Youth? Every week I meet with my allocated mentee face to face, with additional contact via messaging in between. How has Volunteering Changed You? Volunteering has provided better insights into the challenges that young people face leaving the care system and has demonstrated the inadequacies of the state support that on the face of it, should work, but because of the way it is set up, and lack of funding, fails to deliver. Also, accepting that small wins are OK and a step in the right direction. What is the Best Thing About Volunteering? It is a great way to “give something back” to society. Seeing small improvements and someone developing more independence. Meeting new people with different experiences. What Would You Say to Someone Considering Volunteering? If you have an interest in supporting young people and can devote some time, just do it! Finally, Would you Recommend Volunteering to Others? Definitely – everyone should do something in life to “give something back” to society. You can find Caudwell Youth mentoring opportunities here .