Volunteer hospice gardener Joyce is a blooming star

Nelson woman Joyce Hargreaves has been hailed as a star volunteer for her gardening work with Pendleside Hospice.
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As part of Volunteers’ Week, Lancashire Adult Learning is highlighting some of its volunteering stars, including Joyce who has volunteered at Pendleside Hospice and at Pendle Voice.

LAL’s volunteering courses were perfect for 60-year-old who has completed a wide range of them as a way of keeping busy and learning new skills after becoming unemployed.

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Joyce said: “I work as a volunteer gardener at Pendleside Hospice and I have also recently started to help out with audio recording at Pendle Voice which is a service that enables members of the community who are blind to keep up with local news and current affairs.

Joyce HargreavesJoyce Hargreaves
Joyce Hargreaves

“I’ve really enjoyed the volunteering courses I have done with LAL, and the other courses too including horticulture. The quality of the courses is excellent, and they are very informative and sociable. The tutors have worked wonders during the lockdown period to support adult learners with courses through Zoom.

“I feel really positive and confident having attended classes. I am considering my options for the future, whether part time work or further volunteering opportunities that are aligned to my interests.”

Lancashire Adult Learning’s current range of courses under its Volunteering offer includes Befriending, Mentoring, Dementia Awareness, Building a Community Project, Equality and Diversity, Mental Health, Safeguarding and Volunteering into Employment.

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Tom Gee, Head of Curriculum for Employability, Skills and Volunteering at Lancashire Adult Learning, said: “Each year, we take great pride in the work our volunteering stars undertake in their communities and we enjoy saying a big thank you to them.

“In 2021, that is no different, and we are prouder than ever to celebrate the efforts of volunteers across Lancashire from the last 12 months which has been a period of time like no other in living memory.

“Here at Lancashire Adult Learning, we have a passion to increase the number of volunteers that there are across the Red Rose County.

“Volunteering is really rewarding, and through our network of community partners, it would be great to use Volunteers’ Week 2021 to kickstart the training and support of a new group of volunteers wherever you are in Lancashire.”

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To view the range of volunteering courses offered by Lancashire Adult Learning, further information can be found on the website at www.lal.ac.uk, or by calling 0333 003 1717.

Lancashire Adult Learning’s course offer supports adult learners across Lancashire, and these are largely free, flexible and available online.

They include courses to boost health and wellbeing, options to retrain, classes to improve digital skills, and family learning opportunities.