“Their support encourages me to want to do more for others. As a charity, I don’t think I could ever feel I was doing too much and I want to help in any way I can.”
Dorian, Emergency Medical Technician, Swansea
“I’m Dorian, and I am currently an EMT for the Welsh Ambulance. I first heard about TASC when a colleague was selling merchandise to fundraise for the charity. I liked everything that TASC stands for so I thought I would see what I could do to help. As I spoke with some of the team, I got drawn in more and more and wanted to learn how I could help them to assist me and my colleagues.
When I assisted a colleague and signposted them to TASC after I had completed a Trauma Risk Management (TRiM) assessment for them. The Wellbeing Support Team were so helpful and reassuring that I felt I could do more, so I phoned back the next day and asked how I could help more.
I was passed to Marieanne in the Volunteer Team and she directed me to the online learning and gave me ideas on how I could help. After I completed the initial training, I signed up to be a Peer Support Volunteer and drove up to Manchester to do my first peer support training workshop – I even arranged for two friends to come with me. I thoroughly enjoyed the training and felt like it was needed in Wales so I nagged the Volunteer Team until we got one! Marianne asked me to help source venues for the course, which I attended again as I could never get enough of this knowledge. We also had Dan Squibb, TASC’s Director of Operations, come down to my union branch meeting, where I found out that I’m actually one of the TASC statistics as they’ve recorded my referral as a TRiM referral!
My learning through peer support training has given me a better idea of how I can support colleagues. Just talking to colleagues, offering a listening ear, and letting them know they have somewhere to turn to has been enough, while for others I have referred to TASC for counselling, financial or physiotherapy support. Several of my colleagues have asked how they can get involved and fundraise for TASC.
So far I’ve represented TASC at the Community First Responder (CFR) conference in Swansea and I promote TASC in stations and in the wellbeing and mental health steering groups I sit for in my union. Recently, I have also had the opportunity to talk about TASC in station inductions and done a bit of fundraising through a birthday Facebook fundraiser – I was due to join a team to do bog snorkeling to raise money until this pandemic spoilt it.
Volunteering for TASC has been addictive, for want of a better word. The team is so helpful and easy to work with; it makes you comfortable to do more. I enjoy what I do and have since recruited several more volunteers – just earlier today I was posting on Twitter to encourage more colleagues to step up and get involved.
TASC as a charity has been excellent support for myself and my colleagues, the ideas behind what they do are fantastic. TASC has helped me personally with my bankruptcy after I was struggling for 10 years and burying my head in the sand. Their support encourages me to want to do more for others. As a charity, I don’t think I could ever feel I was doing too much and I want to help in any way I can.”
Join us!
Volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. Whether it’s raising awareness in their workplace, encouraging others to get involved, supporting staff at events or speaking at conferences, all our TASC volunteers make a big difference to the people in the UK’s ambulance community. If you’d like to join Dorian and become one of our volunteering superstars, you can learn more and register to become a volunteer at: www.theasc.org.uk/volunteer.
