Skip to main content

Marie Curie launches volunteer ‘Helper’ service in Portsmouth

Marie Curie is celebrating the launch of its Helper service in Portsmouth and is calling on people to consider volunteering a few hours of their time each week to support local people with terminal illnesses and their families.


The charity is looking for people who are interested in becoming a ‘Marie Curie Helper’, a volunteer who can visit someone with a terminal illness in their own home to provide companionship and emotional support, as well as practical help. While it has previously been available in other parts of the country, this is the first time that people in Portsmouth have been able to benefit from the service.

Marie Curie Helper volunteers give around three hours a week of their time to offer a friendly ear and the opportunity to talk through any worries. Volunteers also help by providing practical support, information about local services and enabling carers and family members to take a short break.

Rachel Hatcher, Marie Curie Helper Service Manager for Portsmouth, said: “We’re delighted that the Helper service is now available to people across Portsmouth and we would love for people in the area to sign up and become a Helper volunteer. It’s a great local service providing vital one-to-one support to people living with a terminal illness and, in many cases, their families or carers too.

“People can choose how much time they would like to spend with their Helper volunteer – they might just want to chat or there might be something practical the volunteer can help with. The service is entirely based around their needs.”

To find out more about the Marie Curie Helper service in Portsmouth please email portsmouth.helper@mariecurie.org.uk or call free 0800 304 7023 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm).

For more information about Marie Curie Helper visit www.mariecurie.org.uk/helper

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

‘Southsea dinosaur’ returns

Luna Park 2021, an eagerly anticipated new public artwork for Portsmouth designed by internationally renowned artists Ivan Morison and Heather Peak of Studio Morison will be launched on 2 October 2021 on a celebratory day in Southsea Common.  The 1.4 metres bronze sculpture is a tribute to the original 53-foot high 2010 artwork Luna Park, which tragically burned down on Southsea Common. The artists will unveil a new sculpture that responds to ten years of public demand to ‘bring back the Southsea Dinosaur’.  The new public artwork will be located within a direct sightline to the position of the original Luna Park sculpture. It will sit on top of a fossil Portland stone plinth with a QR code which when scanned with a smartphone will connect to an Augmented Reality experience. People will be transported to a digital rendering of the original artwork, seemingly standing life-size in front of them on Southsea Common. Viewers will also be able to use their mobile devices to visit a...

Delicious thinly sliced pork in Korean marinade

Sometimes you found a recipe and wrote it down on a piece of paper to try it out. Having done that, you forget where the recipe came from. Likewise this Korean recipe for pork, which turned out to be so delicious we have cooked it for everyone. The marinade is simple to make and yet really packed with flavours. For the Korean marinade you need  3 garlic cloves 1/2 brown onion 1/2 a pear or apple Blitz these ingredients together and then add 5 tablespoons soy sauce (I use Kikkoman) 3 tablespoons caster sugar 2 tablespoons sesame oil 3 tablespoons mirin black pepper For dinner for 2 people, 200g pork tenderloin is enough. Slice this thinly, and bash it to an even thinner piece with a meat mallet. Marinade in the sauce and leave it in the fridge for an hour. Then heat a frying pan on medium heat with a teaspoon of vegetable oil and fry the thin pork pieces until browned. You want some of the edges of the meat to be dark brown and caramelised, if you can. Don't cook too many pieces or ...

I Am Only Human After All film premiere

Portsmouth Film Society (PFS) continues to deliver on its mission to help break down social barriers and unite diverse cultures with the premieres of four short films on 30 May at the New Theatre Royal, Portsmouth. Portsmouth citizens from all backgrounds have come together to tell their stories. Many people will be able to identify with the difficult subjects of these films; homelessness, substance misuse and recovery, disability and multiculturalism. Whether they have experience of these topics themselves, or only in passing, PFS hopes that projects like these will encourage discussion amongst their viewers. These short films are the result of a 20-week course held at the University of Portsmouth where participants were introduced to all aspects of film-making including script writing, casting, directing, filming and editing. They then became the producers, directors, screenwriters and actors in their own films. The program also included lectures by local film makers and an...