SYLVIA’S story

There were no planes, no buses, no traffic, everywhere was quiet. You heard the birds singing. 

“I started with Age UK soon after my husband died. My daughter was already a volunteer here then, doing home visits. So she said, “You're not sitting at home, Mother. We’ll get you out”. I'm used to office work, and they had a vacancy at reception at Farnworth. I loved it from day one, I really enjoy coming.  I don't ever say, “Oh, it’s work in the morning.” It's only when you’re getting out of bed that you think that! I've been there quite a while, thirteen years, at least. I’m booking people in, dealing with inquiries, phone calls from whoever, and just generally chat. They seem like a family now, because I've been here so long. 

I was brought up in this area. I lived very close by when I was little, and I went to the school up the road. I've known Farnworth all my life. 

I had bad knees and had a knee operation in the middle of Covid, which wasn't good because at the time there was no visiting. I was one of the few percent that it’s not a success. I had three operations in three months on the same knee.  t's not good, so I do walk with a stick now, but other than that, I'm fine. I just can't do everything I used to do. I used to love my dogs, but because I'm too old to have my own, I borrow a neighbour’s and I love it. 

At the beginning, we were all so shocked by the severity of Covid. You couldn't even have people in the house, and outside only six. I've got one daughter here in Bolton and one in Prestatyn, so it was weird. At the very beginning, it was really scary, but in a way, we had a beautiful summer that year. There were no planes, no buses, no traffic, everywhere was quiet. You heard the birds singing. The weather was so much nicer. But it was a horrible time as well. I have a friend, she's a widow as well, and we just made a little bubble of us two, because we weren’t coupled. We rang each other every day just to catch up and see what we were up to.  Gardening became a good thing.  

When things started opening up again, it felt like I'd never been away once I got here. It was fabulous. I was glad to get back. It was a feeling of getting back to normal because everything was weird before that. 

I think social wise, a lot of things have gone. And in those few years, we've lost friends and people have died and yes, everything changes, and you've aged that bit more…

I think you get more out of volunteering than what you give. It's just a part of your life now. My husband did volunteer before he got too poorly, and he always benefited from it. It was good that I was coaxed into doing it because I'm not a go-getter.  If someone was thinking about volunteering, I’d say definitely do it because it is well worthwhile. I don't know of any disadvantages to doing it, so why not?”