Volunteering in Richmond

One of the items on my ‘to do’ list has been volunteering work. Since I cannot legally work in the country I can at least contribute to society by doing something worthwhile (or try to).  

One of my fellow gym buddies recommended a homeless shelter in nearby Richmond called The Vineyard Community Centre which I dropped in to today to attend an afternoon tea for volunteers.

If you’re not aware Richmond is quite a posh area and I think the opening sentence on the Visit Richmond website summarises it ‘swimmingly’ as the posh people say... “Welcome to London's most attractive borough, which for hundreds of years has been a favourite retreat of Royalty, the rich and the famous.”

The bus ride to it from Kingston takes you through a very scenic road of green pastures, cobble stone roads and enormously large houses. You also cannot miss the well manicured polo ground.  I must say, it does seem odd going to Richmond to visit a homeless shelter and meanwhile the average resident probably earns well above the median wage in the UK and drives the latest Mercedes, BMW or Ferrari.

However, getting back to the topic at hand, the centre itself is located within the basement of a local church. It’s recently been renovated so looks more like a local cafe than what its real purpose is for.  It opens out onto a terrace with a large cottage garden.  It’s open for its residents so they can drop in, have a shower, get some food and relax in the atmosphere.  If you’re interested in knowing more you can visit their website at http://www.vineyardcommunity.org/ .

I met a number of different people, mainly volunteers who devote a lot of their time either working in the charity shop, in the cafe or in the garden amongst other things. One old lady in her 70’s looks after the vegie patch which apparently this year has not done very well due to the weather. Another very welcoming volunteer happily gave me a run down on some of the residents and who to avoid.

I have to be completely honest and say that other than participating in a fundraiser for an Adelaide charity called The Hutt Street Centre which was ‘Walk a Mile in my Boots’, I think that’s the correct term, I have not had anything to do with homelessness.  It can be quite confronting as there are a few odd people that you typically avoid when you see them down the street but I’m determined to at least give it a try and if it doesn’t work out then I’ll move onto the next one. Wish me luck, my first shift in the cafe starts next Thursday!

The cupcakes I baked for the Afternoon Tea. One person thought they were from Waitrose!