Racing Welfare's Annual Review 2022/23

VOLUNTEERING
Crucial to the delivery of all of Racing Welfare’s events programme is our team of dedicated volunteers who selflessly give their time to
help us in a variety of ways. 68 volunteers helped at a total of six events across the year, in turn helping us to raise vital funds. Many of
those are long-standing supporters who return year-on-year. For example, at Middleham Open Day our team of volunteers includes:
Maureen Winter who has been volunteering for as long as we can remember, Steve Marshall who has clocked up three years and Sue
Jackson who has been involved with the day for five years.
Our volunteering programme also includes a befriending service, which sees 25 volunteers making regular phone calls to provide direct
support to beneficiaries. We know that 6% of adults state that they feel lonely always or often, and Check-In and Chat was originally
established during the pandemic as a way of helping those who may be particularly vulnerable to loneliness and isolation. The service has
since continued to be a lifeline for many in helping them to stay connected and in 2022, 50 individuals were supported in this way, with
a total of 283 hours of conversations.
Racing Welfare trustee and committee member, Venetia Wrigley DL, was instrumental in the setting up of the service and began
making Check-In and Chat calls in 2020. This year she continued to support eight beneficiaries and made 232 calls in total, amounting
to 52 hours of conversation.
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