Interview with Diane Bennet's about her experiences about volunteering and helping other women in the community through a Women's Chat group, Riverside Festival August 2016, Cardiff

Disgrifiad

Interview with Diane Bennet at the Riverside Festival, Cardiff, 2016.

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The Chronicle Project is a community heritage project supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and run by VCS Cymru with the aims to document the history of volunteering in Cardiff, from 1914 to 2014.

Visit our website at: http://chronicle.vcscymru.org.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chronicleVCS/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vcs_chronicle

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LT = Lara Taffer (interviewer), DB = Diane Bennett.

LT: So, if you could state your name, tell us a little bit about yourself.
[Volunteering at the job club - 0:06 to 0:53]

DB: My name is Diane, um, I had an accident and damaged my, in 2004 and, um then, basically I was sort of stagnant I suppose, and then um, in 2013 I met Alan a vicar from the Oxfam livelihood project who works at Brynall street at the SRCVC, and through that I became a volunteer. I had to look for a job and it was easier for me to help other people go on computers and do CVs and everything like this before I looked for my job myself.

[Women's chat group - 0:54 to 2:17]

Then, um, that was in the job club, I started volunteering there, that was from about January 2014. Then, um, last year through the Oxfam livelihood, we started this chat group as well, and then, um, it sort of like, what that is, is basically, for myself, I couldn’t go out and couldn’t walk, and so I got anxiety, you know borderline acrophobic, and sometimes I can’t walk, and it’s for ladies who have, maybe for religious reasons or just because they need to get out for a cup of tea and a chat, so this is why we started it here at the Windom centre, and um, yeah, that’s why I’m here today really, just to advertise the women’s chat which I’m pretty much I’m running with extra volunteers, so, and yeah, it’s fun but it’s hard, because I am in the same, well not the same position per se, but I’m still not able to work because of my back and my health condition, so yeah I volunteer at job club and do the women’s chat and then people know to phone me up and say, well, you know, help me with this form or can you help me with this form, because of stuff that I’ve done and I know lots of people round here, because I live just round there, so yeah, that’s pretty much it really.
LT: What motives you for volunteering, so why do you do what you do? Not just because you can’t get a job but is there something kind of inside of you?

[Motivations to volunteer - 2:27 to 4:02]
DB: There’s nothing really for me, if that makes sense, I was basically on morphine and everything and I didn’t go out at all, I didn’t have any encouragement, I didn’t have any motivation, I had my neighbours who, you know, who were great, you just met one of my ex neighbours you know, and yes it was great, but, I didn’t go anywhere you know, um, and this way I meet more people, it gets me out, stops me being acrophobic, you know, and plus I help people, like you say cause there are many women, you don’t know until you know, that, you know, there are many people in the same position, and they phone me up and ask me, if I can help them, cause some, English isn’t their first language either, so I will phone up on their behalf, put them on speaker phone, and then the person on the other side, is it okay if she speaks on your behalf, and they go yeah, that’s fine, you know, and then, yeah, then I speak for them, whoever it is, maybe it’s benefit people, maybe it’s some strange people calling up, whatever, you know, and yeah I like it, and obviously I know loads of people, you know, and yeah I am sicker than I make out if that makes sense, but it gets me, because I am in pain every single day, but it’s like, I try not to think about it so it’s like, you know.
LT: How do you think your previous experience, like you said, it helped you get out and meet people, do you think you’ve helped others also do the same thing?
[Helping others - 4:12 to 5:05]

DB: Yeah, yeah, because obviously as well as in job club, I help people get a job, and do their CVs, you know, phone up about stuff, give them encouragement and say you know, I know, yeah it’s like, people they say oh haven’t seen you for ages, and I go cause I’ve been working now and I say oh, and you know, so yeah, I mean one example this lady wanted me to show her how to make a cake, and I’m a chef by trade so, and in exchange she said, you know, her and her husband are from Italy, so they’re Italian, and you know they give me pizza and pasta, I was there for like seven hours, and I never had so much food in my life, I had to take stuff home. We ended up making two cakes, but it was fun.
LT: And how do you think that that example there, do you think that it kind of brought you as a community closer together, like it made you meet people.
[Volunteering and the community - 5:14 to 6:32]

DB: Well yes and no, I went to a house for that example, because that was Tanya, but then, but now she can make cakes for her children, you know, so that’s what she wanted, and for her family, and next time she makes a cake she asked me to come round, and said, ooo look I’ve done this, and I said that’s great, but yeah I’ve done sessions here within the chat, because it’s all about learn something or teach us something, so I will teach somebody something I know, but it’s not just about me, and the whole idea is I don’t want it just about me, I want people to come and show us how to do. My friend Mahar, she, you know the waxing sugar and mix, we brought tubs of that here because she did a sessions here on how to make it and how to use it on your arms and your legs and whatever, you know. And we have tubs if people want to take tubs away, and she is doing little demonstrations as well, and that’s good for her because later on if she wants to set up a little business (laughs).
LT: So do you think that your work with the um, what was the volunteer organisation again?
DB: SRCVC, South community and riverside development centre. Communities first basically.
LT: So with your work, with your examples that you’ve given me, how do you think that that has contributed to the community around here?
DB: Uh, well everybody knows me, so they’ll say oh, cake lady or sometimes they’ll actually call me by my name, you know,
LT: So it’s brought you closer to your neighbours?
DB: Yeah well you know, not my neighbours that I live in my building with, but, yeah.
LT: Community neighbours?
[Knowing the community - 7:16 to 7:42]

DB: Yeah because I literally live like two doors down from half a dozen people that I know, but like, people just live here, people just live here, I live just on Ninian park road, but like between here and there, it’s a two minute walk, and there’s probably about twenty people that I know.
LT: So do you think without volunteering you would have met these people?
[Getting to know the community and peer mentoring - 7:44 to 9:08]

DB: No, well I knew some of them because I did peer mentoring as well through the livelihood projects, so I became a peer mentor, this is slightly, this was February, by February 2014, so that, because of what I’ve been doing at the job club, and so, but half of them I’d seen around but I didn’t know who they were, and we all went on this peer mentoring course, and now we obviously all know each other, and then half of us signed up within the women’s chat, so there is a knock on effect you know, voluntary work, to the job club, to the peer mentoring to helping the community within the women’s chat, so we say if men want to do it, you know, do a men’s chat, why not, you know. we’ve done a gardening group, we have a little allotment just there, you know, which is getting a lot of water today, so it’s good, and the allotment is obviously for anybody, there’s tonnes of chocolate mint there, and there’s tomatoes on the go.
LT: Do you grow anything?
DB: No actually I’ve got a little plant myself on my windowsill, I did take some mint though, it’s just like wildfire.
LT: And I guess we’ll close off with what you enjoy most about volunteering? You've kind of already answered it a little bit...
[Learning from volunteering - 9:27 to 10:15]

DB: Ummm, I suppose I’ve learnt how to have hot food now, like spicy food, because like I said some of my friends, they’re Indian, some are from Sudan, and some are Italian, so it’s, my food range, I can have more chilli now, and it’s like this is quite calm. But yeah it’s fun because they all say you know like think I need feeding whenever I go, but it’s nice because I can call up people and I know if I have a problem then they’ll help me, so it’s both ways.
LT: Is there anything else that you wanted to say that we didn’t cover about your volunteering?
DB: I don’t know, obviously I like it, I hope, to be fair I’d like to get a job out of it eventually, but with my condition it’s a bit up and down. So that’s why I like doing what I’m doing at the moment, but tomorrow I will probably spend all day in bed because probably won’t be able to move. I mean last night I was helping finishing off cooking some stuff for today, and had the hot water bottle and pain meds, so probably tonight and tomorrow if going to be a bit rough.
LT: So would you recommend that other people should also volunteer?
[Encouraging others to volunteer - 11:04 to 11:38]

DB: I think so yeah, I mean it gets me out, it means, cause then I have something to get out for, because I mean I know I am borderline acrophobic and if I don’t go out, I won’t want to go out, so that means I won’t go out because I don’t want to go out, if that makes sense, so it’s a knock on affect. So this makes me go out and plus I’m helping other people which I like, and you know, people seem to like me helping them, so yeah hopefully it will carry on and get other people to volunteer as well.
LT: How are you doing that?
DB: time credits.
LT: And can you tell me about the, is it spice?
[Time credits - 11:44 to 12:19]

DB: Yeah, I’ve got loads, but through my anxiety thing is I can’t go anywhere by myself, if that makes sense, and I know you must think why would she be in a crowded room? But to be fair, I know pretty much three quarters of the people in there. So hence why I can do that, but I’m with people I know, but going to things like the gym or to swim by myself, (shakes head), once I’m in the pool or once I’m in the gym you won’t see me for dust, it’s getting there, so I need people to come with me, so I like the athletic sort of things,
LT: Who are you recruiting to volunteer with you?
[Recruiting volunteers - 12:23 to 12:56]

DB: Anybody, you say, you know, come. Like some of the ladies who come to help on my store, and I’ve said you know I can give you time credits for it, some will just come in because they want to, you know, which is good because it helps, cause it’s five hours, that’s a long day, you know, but some are coming because they’re getting time credits. But it’s nice for them to come and then maybe we can all go somewhere.
LT: Anything else you want to add?
[Women's chat and fundraising - 12:59 to 13:41]

DB: No, I don't know. Well I suppose, we do trips as well, we try to do trips anyway, we used to do them with the Oxfam but that’s ended, but the main reason to advertise women’s chat is to get a bit of extra money, so anything we are selling, we’re donating, we’re asking for donations from anyone who wants to take anything out of our store, and then that goes back into women’s chat, and then hopefully we will be able to pay for trips and stuff. Like go down the bay and go to Barry Island, all in a group, see, and they like that, so it’s good.
LT: Well thank you for interviewing with us.
DB: You’re welcome.