Tiny Norfolk church wins national accolade 

A tiny Norfolk church has been highly commended at the National Churches Awards for its work with volunteers. Diss URC church member and Community Worker, Ruth Bridges, reports.

Diss URC is located centrally on the main street in Diss - Mere Street and has a membership of just five - but that doesn’t hold us back! We provide both rooms for groups to hire, plus we run community groups of our own.
 
We have a weekly Welcome Cafe on Friday mornings which is market day and a hub of happiness! Not only is it a great place to get a drink and one of our famous cheese scones, but it is a brilliant place for those experiencing loneliness to come. Everyone is welcome and in particular, anyone arriving on their own finds friendly volunteers who will make time to chat and even introduce them to other cafe users in the hopes of building friendships.
 
On the first Wednesday of every month we run the Dove Dementia Cafe. This is a time for fun, friendship, support and a light lunch for people with a Dementia diagnosis and their carers. We are regularly supporting and feeding between 50 and 60 people. In the summer we go on outings where we eat out together; this year we have been to Beyond the Wall near Thornham and the Air Museum in Flixton.
 
On the third Mondays and Wednesdays of each month we run music therapy groups: Dove Song is for people with a Dementia diagnosis and their carers, whilst Dove Song Plus is for adults with complex needs and their carers. These are not just therapeutic, but joyful sessions which leave everyone happy.
 
On the fourth Monday of every month we also run Dove Cafe Church which is a Dementia friendly church service which is open to anyone who would like to attend.
 
This year we have also started running Dovelets which is for babies and pre-school children with additional needs. Currently it is held on the second Tuesday of each month where we again provide music therapy. But in 2024 we are hoping to make this a weekly session, with the other Tuesdays in the month being sensory and messy play sessions.
 
However, with only five members, none of this community provision would be possible if it were not for our fantastic volunteers. We are blessed with 25 committed volunteers who enable each activity to take place. They support us by:

• welcoming everyone, making them feel comfortable and valued
• sitting with  our participants and carers in the Dove sessions, and joining in with any activities, singing or remembrances
• enabling carers to meet together in their support group at the Dove Dementia Cafe by sitting with those they care for and encouraging them to take part in with the activities
• talking with the Welcome Cafe customers (particularly if they are on their own) and generally being friendly
• helping to prepare and serve refreshments, then afterwards clearing away and washing up the crockery and cutlery
• helping with tidying away all of the activities, including putting away the tables and chairs 

Our volunteers always come with a smile and a friendly face and each of them has varied talents and strengths. Some are confident at talking with our group members and providing a friendly welcome, making each person feel valued and special. Whilst others like to lead an activity for our members with Dementia to participate in. Others like to make food for the lunches we provide and the light refreshments we always finish our groups with. Whilst others prefer to stay in the kitchen providing the food and drinks and washing up afterwards. But in the main, they all just generally muck in with whatever is needed and they always have a smile whilst doing it.
 
As members of Diss URC we are very aware how blessed we are with our volunteers. So when in July I saw that there was a National Churches Award category for volunteers I decided to nominate our band of helpers. All I did was say exactly what they did for us and how they were crucial in our successes with supporting our local community before submitting the application.
 
By the end of summer we were excited to hear that we had got through to the final 12 churches; we felt that this was an amazing success in itself, considering that this award is for the whole of England and all denominations of churches! Then as the final drew near in November we heard that although we hadn’t actually won, we were ‘Highly Commended’. The church was still delighted and so were our volunteers - they could see that it wasn’t just us saying thank you to them for everything they do, but complete strangers hearing about them were equally as impressed!
 
We were sent a ‘Highly Commended’ certificate which we have presented to our volunteers in front of both our Dove groups and our Welcome Cafe. Everyone was thrilled for them and their certificate now hangs in pride of place to remind everyone that good volunteers are so important in supporting local communities.
 
We continue to provide our community groups and hope to do so for many a year to come, but only because we have amazing volunteers. So on behalf of all five of our church members, I would like to say an enormous thank you to each and every one of our superb volunteers. And I hope that each of your churches are as blessed as us, with volunteers to help support you and your local communities too.
 
Pictured above are Karen and Michael, a volunteer and a member of the Diss URC Dove Dementia Cafe.