At Caer Gwent, Guild Care’s luxury residential care home in Worthing, the team celebrated all their wonderful volunteers with a special ‘thank you’ event to recognise the positive difference they make to life at the home.

The event brought together volunteers who regularly support the residents at Caer Gwent, offering a friendly chat and help with running all sorts of different activities that take place on a daily basis. Small, personalised gifts were handed out as a token of appreciation, and volunteers shared their personal stories about why they choose to give their time.

Annette, whose mother Thelma lives at Caer Gwent, spoke about how much she enjoys running the weekly Scrabble group and how rewarding she finds volunteering. Trudi, another valued volunteer, first became connected to the home when her close friend Muriel lived there. After Muriel passed away, Trudi continued to volunteer and remains a beloved part of the Caer Gwent family.

Jill, whose mum lived at Caer Gwent, is now a regular volunteer too along with her husband Pat who is a volunteer bus driver. Their support, like that of so many others, helps to bring joy and connection to the people Guild Care supports.

Sammy Paynter, Health & Wellbeing Coordinator, said: "It was really special to bring everyone together and show just how much we value the time and kindness our volunteers give so generously. They make such a difference to the lives of our lovely residents, and it was wonderful to be able to say thank you and give them a little, personalised gift to say how much we appreciate them."

While the event was specific to Caer Gwent, Guild Care also has a token of its appreciation heading towards its volunteers. Each of these volunteers helps to support the charity’s services in the Worthing community in many ways, from minibus drivers to retail assistants, befrienders, helping to run community activities for older people, fundraising events, residential care homes, and day services for people living with dementia.

Each volunteer plays a vital role in helping older people, people living with dementia and children & adults with learning disabilities to live well, enjoy life and love every day.

Elizabeth Lang, Head of Volunteering at Guild Care added, “We are lucky enough to have a great team of volunteers but we are always happy to hear from anyone who’d like to give it a try. On behalf of everyone at Guild Care, we’d like to say a huge thank you for the incredible gift of time, care and compassion our volunteers bring so generously.”

If you would like to lend a hand as a volunteer at Guild Care, contact their Volunteering Team on 01903 600602. Or for more information about life at Caer Gwent, call 01903 327327 or visit www.caergwent.org.