A resident has reminisced about her lifetime of charity work and spoken about the important role volunteers play at the care home she lives at.

Joan Bush praised the selfless work of volunteers at Royal Star & Garter in High Wycombe, where she has lived for three years.

The great-grandmother also recalled her many years of volunteering, which began after she left school and only stopped in 2018, when she was 86.

She spent decades helping good causes in and around the Wycombe area, and received the Women’s Voluntary Service Medal at Buckingham Palace in recognition of her lifetime volunteering.

Joan, now 93, was sharing her memories ahead of Volunteers’ Week, which is running from 1-7 June. The annual UK-wide campaign recognises the fantastic contribution volunteers make to their communities.

Royal Star & Garter is a charity which provides loving, compassionate care to veterans and their families living with disability or dementia, from Homes in Solihull, Surbiton, High Wycombe and Worthing. It also runs services reaching out into the community including Day Care, Lunch Club and the national Telephone Friendship Service.

Joan spent many years helping raise money for the Wycombe Hospital Broadcasting Association, better known as Wycombe Radio, and went on to become its Chair. She helped organise numerous fundraisers, including the famous bed-push, which saw a bed-bound ‘patient’ pushed through the town by fundraisers and medics, carrying props such as a giant syringe and IV drip.

Among her many other voluntary roles was delivering Meals on Wheels for 15 years.

Volunteers play an important role in Royal Star & Garter’s Homes. They assist in a variety of ways, helping with gardening, arts and crafts activities, music clubs, outings, and spend time chatting with residents, playing games and reading together. They help tackle loneliness and boost wellbeing through meaningful conversation and keep residents connected to the local community.

‘You can feel the joy they bring’

Praising the volunteers at Royal Star & Garter, Joan said: “They are very good and genuinely enjoy giving their time here. You can feel the joy they bring and it’s nice to have different people coming into the Home.”

Royal Star & Garter’s Veterans’ Voice project aims to give a platform to its residents and the people who use its services, ensuring they are not overlooked because of their disability or dementia.

Royal Star & Garter in High Wycombe is welcoming new residents. For more information on this, its other services or to work at the Home, go to https://starandgarter.org/hw

Anyone interested in finding out more about volunteering at Royal Star & Garter can go to: https://starandgarter.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer-for-us/