Volunteer Telford

Chatterbox is our award-winning, flagship befriending service designed to support those who find themselves isolated, vulnerable, and/or alone in later life.

Volunteers with our Chatterbox programme are matched with a client, most of whom are socially isolated and/or lonely, with whom they organise a weekly phone call at a mutually convenient time. 

As well as offering a listening ear and companionship, our befrienders are able to sign post individuals to other agencies who may be able to offer further support as and when appropriate. We give our befrienders comprehensive training and support throughout their time with Omega.

All volunteering time with Chatterbox is completed from the comfort of your own home.

The trail was established in 2018 to celebrate Telford’s 50th anniversary.

Since then, it has been well used for recreation, charity events and ultra and relay events. There is a guidebook, this generates an income which is used to support the trail.  The state of the trail is monitored by a panel of champions who look after set stages. 

Any problems they find are either dealt with by them, by members of the committee or referred to Telford and Wrekin Council.

In 2023 the group applied for a grant to establish and waymark 23 short circular Coronation Walks throughout the Borough. Work on these is progressing well.

The group runs a website a Facebook page and holds occasional events.

The group is looking for new blood on the committee. Ideally they would like for a new secretary (a minutes secretary would be a help), possibly a new chair (although the current secretary is happy to take this if a new secretary can be found), but new people on the committee would be welcome.

The time commitment varies tremendously so flexibility is another key asset.

The committee meets about 8 times a year, in the early evenings, by Zoom.

The chair chairs these meetings and takes a lead in all the major decisions of the group.

The current secretary mainly deals with any incoming emails, prepares agendas and minutes, looks after the website , issues certificates on request to those completing the trail, administers  the annual Relay Challenge, represents the group on the Local Access Forum,  sends occasional emails to the  Mail chimp list  of members  and  is one of the Facebook admins.

With a new secretary, some of these tasks could be delegated to others on the committee.  .

By becoming a Story Starter volunteer you will give a child in a local early years setting/nursery the skills to start primary school ready to read. You’ll open up their lives to the magic of stories and provide crucial language development in a way which is fun for both you and the child!

How does it work?

As a Story Starter you will support three children aged 3-5 years' old on a one-to-one basis, using play and stories to develop and enrich their use of language.

You’ll need to commit to volunteering at a local nursery for one hour, twice a week during nursery hours.

You’ll receive professional training and support to ensure that you are best able to support young children and feel comfortable in a modern nursery setting.

The Friends are all about promoting, conserving and protecting Telford Town Park. We enjoy the support of not only Telford & Wrekin Council Parks Department but the Southwater Event Group and also lots of local Town and Parish Councils in our borough. The Town Park is a very important space for Telford, not only for leisure activities but to assist in the renewing and cleaning of the very air we breathe. We have also started a new scheme called ‘Friends 4 Health’ by which people recovering from illness or perhaps with some mobility issues can be referred by one of several different health agencies, both Council and NHS, to spend some time with the Friends in order to assist in their recovery. With this in mind we have a range of special tools available.