75 year-young Lesley lives on a farm with her husband, two dogs and 19-year-old pony Storm, near Alnwick Northumberland. Lesley is a very busy lady. Between working at a local law firm, spending time at the stables or riding Storm, Lesley still finds time to volunteer for Racing Welfare as a telephone befriender.
Lesley’s motivation to join Racing Welfare as a befriender was a very personal one as she told us “I lost a very dear friend and Racing Welfare were so good to him, I wanted to do this on his behalf”.
Lesley signed up to volunteer with Racing Welfare in 2021 and after completing their application and training process, she was matched to befriend an 88-year-old lady who had been widowed. Since then Lesley has been phoning her every week and the two have created a unique bond built on dry humour.
Describing this relationship, Lesley told us “she’s fantastic, speaking with her is the highlight of my week, she is just so funny and very feisty”.
In total, Lesley has dedicated over 33 hours of her time as a telephone befriender for Racing Welfare which is an amazing impact. And of course, Lesley also benefits from her volunteering, telling us “I really enjoy it, it’s like speaking to an old friend, we have such a laugh”.
Lesley has also been involved with some additional volunteering for the organisation, she told us of a time she and the North Regional Welfare Manager, Lucy took a road trip to Kelso to promote Racing Welfare at a large event. Her role was to help promote awareness at their stand, but not content with that Lesley decided to take herself off around the event.
Armed with a collection bucket, she spoke to almost everyone at the event, even in the secretarial tent! After just a couple of hours of chatting away and shaking her collection bucket, Lesley had raised a total of £275 for Racing Welfare!
Lesley, we think your volunteering efforts are tremendous. Thank you for everything you do!
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