The pandemic has hit volunteering in many organisations and charities hard. Services were closed and were being offered on online platforms such as ZOOM. Different dementia charities had to make some changes regarding how they offered their services, and this has had a huge impact on the lives of the people living with dementia and their families. I got in touch with Brenda, who has been a volunteer for dementia charities for over 9 years, to gain an insight into how Covid19 has impacted the process of caring for people living with dementia and how the support they receive has been affected. Dementia affects the person and their family in all aspects of their lives.

When asked if there were any drawbacks to volunteering online, Brenda said she had never used online services before and received help to set things up. “I followed instructions to co-host zoom sessions, to let people in, and supported the host when the host shared the screen and could not see the clients. Another issue was that it was hard to talk to each other and we all had to wait until one finished, making it hard for people to naturally have a conversation, then you would, as opposed to face to face”.

Similarly, in response to asking Brenda’s opinion on thinking if the transition back to face-to-face sessions would be challenging, it was said that “For some people, it has been challenging to come back to face-to-face sessions. Some people were apprehensive at first, had some anxiety but then settled”. Not only have the volunteers had to become used to online sessions, they then were faced with the worries of the transition back to in-person groups. Covid19 has affected people to be “more cautious and stopped them being able to get out. They were frightened to go out and this has affected their mobility as well as their mental capacity and made them worse”. This is because some people have gotten worse in their illness because they have not been able to meet their family, friends, the people at the group sessions, or receive the right medical help.

I also queried if Brenda preferred volunteering at home, to which she replied “No, I prefer to see people in person, it’s much better for people to see each other”.

Finally, I inquired “Do you think it would be beneficial for volunteering in the future to be digital?”. “Not at present because in years to come, maybe 20/30 years, everyone will be computer literate, and right now a lot of older people do not use it and want to be with someone in person”.

Despite all these challenges, Brenda still wishes to continue to volunteer and support others; not allowing Covid19 to change her opinion on volunteering or supporting the people she cares about - “I enjoy being with people”.