Guy Wellings

Project Manager of Connecting Communities at the Volunteer Centre Nuneaton & Bedworth.

The Connecting Communities Project is funded by the Big Lottery Fund and aims to improve community cohesion within the Borough of Nuneaton and Bedworth. The Project focuses on getting local people to work together on Gardening, Grow your Own, DIY or Craft projects that will benefit those in need through disability, age, illness, disadvantage or isolation.

Part of my role is to ensure this work runs smoothly and encourage and support the Project(s) to take steps to become sustainable; including creating a Steering Group, generating income if possible and recruiting and developing their volunteers.

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Our Work

Half of the work we carry out is garden maintenance, landscaping and makeovers to established, mature gardens; including cutting, hedges, lawns and weeding. This can also include gardens have been neglected for along period of time. The gardens are very overgrown and sometimes can be hazardous to the resident(s). The work is carried out by volunteers and we levy a small charge to householders to cover travel costs, tool maintenance and materials. The householders are also welcome to make donations if they should wish to. Our volunteers get an enormous amount of satisfaction from carrying out this kind of work, including meeting new people, gaining confidence and learning new skills both practical and motivational. An additional bonus is that the volunteers unknowingly provide a befriending service to the householders while they are carrying out the work.

The other half of our work is creating and supporting Community Projects that help people within our target group outlined above. Still working within Gardening, Grow your own, DIY and Craft, we do not make any charge for this work, however donations are welcomed. These projects usually demand a higher volume of work and labour and are well suited to ‘Employer Supported Volunteer’ days.