{"id":10834,"date":"2016-11-21T09:49:53","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T09:49:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/?page_id=10834"},"modified":"2023-07-21T09:06:44","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T08:06:44","slug":"volunteer-stories","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/get-involved\/volunteer\/volunteer-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Volunteer stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Volunteer stories<\/h1>\n

making a difference for ME (& me) in Wales<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

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Volunteering gives me the opportunity to turn something very negative (illness) into something very positive (helping others).\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Sharon<\/h3>\n

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During\u00a030 years of being unable to go out and look for employment\u00a0due to ME (which ranged from very severe to moderate) it has been a psychological life saver to be able to do something useful with my life through volunteering.<\/h3>\n

In theory, volunteering with any organisation would have had the same effect, but the advantage of volunteering with WAMES is that everybody understands the fluctuating nature of ME, the need to pace activities and work from bed when my balance problems strike.<\/h3>\n

One of the many things I hate about ME is that it makes me unreliable. Missing events and deadlines is all part and parcel of life.\u00a0 Of course WAMES has deadlines and commitments to meet, like any campaigning and support group,\u00a0and there is often frustration\u00a0when yet another opportunity has been missed,\u00a0due to this dratted\u00a0condition.<\/h3>\n

But\u00a0c’est\u00a0la vie. We just pick ourselves up\u00a0and carry on. Better to do something when I can, than\u00a0wait for that elusive cure!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 JJ<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n

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I didn’t want to retire. I loved my job. Volunteering with WAMES has given me an opportunity to carry on using some of my skills, without all the politics of the workplace. An added advantage is that I get the chance to do something to support my wife and try to improve things for others like her, people with ME. The work environment is different to my past employment, but the job satisfaction is the same!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Tony<\/h3>\n

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More from Sharon – Volunteer coordinator<\/a><\/p>\n

Jan’s story<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Simon’s story – treasurer<\/a><\/p>\n

More from Tony – Acting secretary<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Caitlin – Student placement<\/a><\/p>\n

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back to top<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Volunteer stories making a difference for ME (& me) in Wales     Volunteering gives me the opportunity to turn something very negative (illness) into something very positive (helping others).\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":416,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"one-column-subpages.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-10834","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P5qkYK-2OK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10834"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40105,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/10834\/revisions\/40105"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wames.org.uk\/cms-english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}