A project focusing on volunteerism amongst seniors is coming to the West Shore.
Called Senior Circles, the project looks to map the information volunteer habits of up to 30 seniors, identify home-based volunteering activities in their neighbourhood and host a series of informal volunteering events to connect seniors with their neighbours to the projects.
The project hopes to reduce senior isolation, develop intergenerational connections and create new and meaningful volunteer activities.
B次元官网网址淲hen they [seniors] move homes, they downsize, they move to a new neighbourhood or they give up their vehicles, their volunteering trends change,B次元官网网址� said Volunteer Victoria executive director Lisa Mort-Putland.
B次元官网网址淭hey look for volunteer opportunities closer to home B次元官网网址� They begin to shift the volunteering away from things that are sometimes more structured and organizational into something thatB次元官网网址檚 more community and neighbourhood based.B次元官网网址�
RELATED: Find your volunteer niche around Greater Victoria
ItB次元官网网址檚 a project Volunteer Victoria started informally two years ago, when they began speaking to a number of the organizationB次元官网网址檚 roughly 800 senior volunteers, and learned they didnB次元官网网址檛 offer many opportunities that were informal and based in neighbourhoods.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e looking at how do we put volunteering into neighbourhoods,B次元官网网址� Mort-Putland said, adding the project will help identify volunteer projects that seniors hope to get involved in.
B次元官网网址淲e suspect that there will be projects that are about community spaces, so perhaps a community garden somewhere, planting some trees or cleaning up a part of their neighbourhood that they feel is important.B次元官网网址�
Mort-Putland said the project will begin with seniors on the West Shore, since there are fewer non-profits and has a growing population that is constantly changing.
Recently that project received a boost from the Island Savings Community Endowment fund in the form of a $7,500 grant. This year the First West Foundation, through its Island Savings Community Endowment, distributed 16 grants totalling $75,453 throughout Vancouver Island and the Southern Gulf Islands.
The foundation has donated more than $5 million in grants to local community groups and projects since its inception in 1996.
B次元官网网址淏y helping local organizations like Volunteer Victoria get the funding they need, we ensure they can continue to deliver the programs and services that make our communities a better place to live,B次元官网网址� said Susan Byrom, executive director of the First West Foundation.
For more information on the Senior Circles project call 250-386-2269.
Like us on and follow us on
