Community Health Champions

Our Community Health Champions are volunteers who live across Renfrewshire and care about the health of their community and those around them. Our volunteers are a valued group of individuals who we train and support to enable them to encourage people in the community to be able to make positive changes to improve their health and wellbeing.

Our Community Health Champions roles are varied. We have Champions in Station Seven, who are based at reception or in our living room area to meet and greet people who come into the building and signpost them to appropriate groups, services or support. We also have Champions who are phone buddies and make calls every week to people in Renfrewshire who have been referred or have self-referred to our befriending service. 

 

Some of our Champions support a wide range of community roadshows, local events and support our local partners in engaging with the local community. We have Champions who have skills to share and they run workshops and groups within Station Seven and we have Champions who lead our walking and jogging groups.

Active Communities has been delivering the Community Health Champions programme for several years. The programme has focused on building the skills and confidence of our recruited volunteers and supporting them to address local needs and priorities. Our Champions listen to people and many of the projects within Active Communities have been developed because of the feedback we have received from these volunteers as to what is needed on the ground in a community.

We aim to continue to develop the role of our Community Health Champions, to meet the ever-changing society that we live in. We are constantly ensuring that we offer a wide range of training opportunities that equip our existing and new volunteers with the appropriate skills to take on new volunteering roles within our local community.

Volunteering with Active Communities can be very rewarding, and we are always very grateful to everyone who gives up their time for us.

People who have been paired with a befriender say….

“Now that I actually know someone, I feel more confident to come and try one of your walking groups.”

“You’re one of only two people I speak to in a week, thank you.”

“You are the only person I have spoken to this week.” 

Our Buddies say….

“It’s actually turned my life around for the best, helping me get back into the workplace after a long health issue.”

“Little did I know that volunteering was a two-way thing. Helping myself to help others with great satisfaction and a good feel fun factor.”

“It also enables you to become part of the community, learn new skills/opportunities, meet new people and build friendships/connections at your own pace.”

“It reduces isolation/loneliness and creates a healthy sense of purpose and hope.”

Group participants say...

“Since I joined over the summer, I have found everyone very welcoming from Walking groups to Wednesday Wellness and Friday drop-in."

“It has improved the quality of my life and given me something to look forward to”. 

Community Health Champions