Initially I helped at the Denny Centre in Diss and then joined the Telephone Befriending Team before becoming a member of the Advocacy Team. I have been volunteering for about 6 years. I had recently retired and moved to Norfolk and wanted to use the skills I had developed as a Bank Manager in a volunteering role. 

 In my Telephone Befriending role, I am a good listener and have a wide level of interests and can always find common ground and interests with the people I telephone to speak about. As a Bank Manager, I had to be very structured, and my time management is good. I am used to dealing with authorities in the form of banks and solicitors and the finance sections of organisations. I am confident in this side of the role.

I receive compliments from the people that I telephone, with many saying that they enjoy our chats and look forward to them each week. In some cases, I have been the only person that they may have spoken with in 3 or 4 days.