I work as a volunteer at the Involvement Centre and on the 26th August we had a meeting about the future plans for Involvement. We have a voice to make changes to what is happening in the Trust and I feel privileged to be part of such an innovative meeting.
We discussed the Involvement,Experience and Volunteering strategy and all members of the two Involvement Centres (one at Duncan Macmillan House, in Mapperley, and Rosewood in Ollerton, North Nottinghamshire) were vocal about what they thought we should have in our plans for the future.
My main area of interest of the issues we discussed is how we involve, support and train volunteers to play a key role in the organisation. For me, the future for service users and carers is at the heart of what the Trust does and its potential for services (especially care) is paramount.
Sometimes the meeting can bring up sensitive issues regarding the running of the centres. However, Paul Sanguinazzi(Head of Involvement) always listens to what we have to say and asks us to see if we can see a way forward in response to a problem. This means I trust his approach to bring out the best in the centres and future plans.