Before retiring, Eamonn worked 23 years with Essex Libraries in various managerial roles. He has been volunteering for C360 since July 2018.
“Customers and helping people have been part of my journey, so giving something back meant that volunteering would keep my mind active and proving that my disability (a rare form of Motor Neurone Disease) would not be a barrier, but a challenge.
Since 2018 I had been working as a meet and greet for the hospital league of friends at the Primary Care Centre, Colchester General Hospital and in other volunteering roles for the East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust.
For C360 I have been volunteering at the Primary Care Centre since November 2019 as a meet and greet once a week, which involves directing patients to the many clinics there are within the building and more recently asking the patients Covid screening questions before referring them to reception.
In my spare time!! Since 2018 (except for 2020) I also volunteer as a meet and greet at Abberton Reservoir for Essex Wildlife Trust and twice a week as a room guide and meet and greet at Melford Hall for the National Trust.
What I love about volunteering is meeting, helping and educating people of all ages with a smile and a laugh (when appropriate) and ensuring that the experience they have had at any of my volunteering places is one that has made their day better. Whether it is with a smile or that sense of reassurance when attending a medical appointment.
Whatever your experience in life, out there is a volunteering role that will be exactly right for you. Transferable skills are so important and thinking of volunteering as a job where the reward is not money, but enjoyment and fulfilment.
I guarantee you will meet many likeminded people and a wonderful team spirit.
