Marion Shawburn's Eastwood Befriending Network is defiantly a non charity. And that's why it's a resounding success
I’ve spent my life working with children but back in 2010, amid the worst winter we’d had in memory, I won a Local Hero Award from Renfrew Council for my work helping older people.
With transport halted and shops out of supplies, many vulnerable people in the Renfrew area were completely cut off.
So with help from the council and local businesses I started a network of volunteers to make contact with those cut off in the Eastwood/Giffnock area to see if they needed any help and make sure they were ok.
What surprised me most was the amount of people not only willing to help but to donate food, clothing and even cash – we were inundated quite quickly and struggled to store the amount of donations we were receiving.
That was just the start however. The network lives on and has become a vital service for older people who might not otherwise make everyday contact with others. Contact can be either a visit or a call. Volunteers get to know those they visit and, if needed, can even do the odd errand.
It started off with older people but we also visit those who might be vulnerable in some way. One person I visit has autism and finds it difficult to leave the house. Although he has health visitors, he has no regular visits from family so I pop round and spend some time chatting. It makes all the difference as people easily get lonely and become isolated otherwise.
We work in a very limited area solely because we are a very small network and our remit is to serve the community of Eastwood. People frequently say to me why don’t you publicise on social media, local papers and in the community? But we already operate at full capacity. We have a rota of 20 volunteers who have specific people they contact and that's good enough for the group. Any bigger and we’d need to become a fully signed up charity, subject to checks, balances and social care regulation. We make a huge difference to people’s lives; it works well for what it is.
Our network is a success because it’s something we want to do, over which we have total control. That’s the difference. When you formalise this it gets complicated. Communities should be encouraged to create projects specific to their local area, unencumbered by red tape. There would be many more local organic community initiatives if communities were left alone to get on with it.
Last year we hit the local headlines when we were told our volunteers needed to be Disclosure checked. We don’t. This is an informal network made up of volunteers who are all known to each other. It operates on the exact same principle as a neighbour coming in to say hello. Should they then be Disclosure checked? The whole concept is preposterous.
Despite working full-time I’ve always spent most of my freetime volunteering. I’m a Girl Guide leader and a visitor guide for the National Trust of Scotland. Before that I was a community councillor and I’m a trustee with two charities.
I love being involved, I suppose that’s what motivates me most. It’s also nice to know you’re able to help. I hope people always see me that way – as someone there to help and able to come up with a solution when there’s a problem. After all, I’ve asked enough people to help me; it's about time I paid society something back.
