by Louise Ivison

Around 14% of the UK population has a registered disability over 8.5 million people in total. Yet a project in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames found recently that people with disabilities make up less than 2% of the local volunteers.

In a bid to redress the balance and give more opportunities to people with disabilities in the area, Richmond Volunteer Centre launched the innovative V+ Project earlier this year.

The focus of the project is on raising the profile of volunteering for people with disabilities and one of its newly-launched key initiatives is the Community Champions scheme.

About a dozen volunteers from around the borough, who between them have a wide variety of disabilities, have been recruited as Community Champions, with the task of helping to spread the message about volunteering to their peers.

"A key element of our work is promoting volunteering through word of mouth," explains V+ Project Coordinator Jed Wardley, "and these Champions will naturally do that. They'll be motivating and encouraging because they're already involved."

At their very first group meeting I caught up with four of the Champions to find out why they got involved, and discovered a very committed set of volunteers.

Ali Khayre

Ali Khayre has used a wheelchair since an accident in 1990. Pursuing his interest in IT, Ali recently gained his European Computer Driving Licence and now volunteers one day a week maintaining the database and website for a local charity. "It has been great to practice what I'd already learned," Ali told me. "It's also been easier for me to go out and work towards getting a job."

Steve Berry

Another Champion whose volunteer work involves computers is Steve Berry, who worked as a graphic designer until suffering a stroke aged 50. Undeterred by the disabilities it caused, Steve continues to use his skills by producing the newsletters of various local charities.

Although admitting that the work often involves shoehorning things in without being artistic, Steves been volunteering for a number of years and is continuing to see the benefits. Following his stroke, Steve's spatial awareness has been affected, but, as he explains, "I'm getting faster at doing the layout and the work has even helped me to see space more easily on the computer screen."

Martin Jordan and Tim Roff

Martin Jordan and Tim Roff are both dedicated charity shop volunteers. Martin explained to me about his Asperger's Syndrome - a form of autism affecting social communication - and also described the variety of tasks he carries out with his voluntary work with Oxfam, where he's been since 2001. Among his many responsibilities are stocking shelves, ordering goods and tidying up, and as he explains: "there's always lots of new stock and Head Office makes sure it changes with each season." With all the skills he's gained, Martin hopes to get back into paid employment in the near future.

Tim has also got big ambitions, but when this aspiring actor is not at college studying Performing Arts, he's usually to be found in his local FARA charity shop. Tim has a learning disability that affects his reading and writing, but that hasn't stopped him working in a number of charity shops over the years. Tim summed up his reasons for volunteering as: "It's nice to be busy, its nice to get out, you meet nice people and I've learnt a lot."

With the Champions' enthusiasm, backed up by the guidance of the project's staff, it seems likely that many more people with disabilities will soon be discovering the benefits of volunteering, both to themselves and to their communities.

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