Interviewer

Okay, could you start off by telling us your name, age, and which member group you’re representing today?

Sona Sladkova

Hi, my name is Sona. I’m 36-years-old and I’m the chairman of the Friends of Aspen Court in Poplar.

Interviewer

Okay, perfect. And what first inspired you to become involved with Friends of Aspen Court?

Sona Sladkova

I was working for a charity, and the charity had lots of different Friends Groups, and one of them was very local to me. So, basically, for the first time when I visited the care home, and basically when I went in with the Friends Group, I just really liked how we can help, and how we can just brighten up the residents days, and even lives, and how they are happy, for example, when we are coming in, and the different things that we are doing for them.

Interviewer

Perfect and could you talk a little bit about what your role is at Aspen Court and what sort of activities you help out with?

Sona Sladkova

So as a chairman there are a lot of different activities. So, as my role started – also in lockdown – so, even though we couldn’t go in, we were still doing different things like, for example, fundraising for the home. I think we started with the Tesco fundraising. So we were fundraising for the toiletries that still even in this day and age are very precious to some people because some of the residents, they don’t have any family members, therefore they would have no toiletries. So, fundraising is one of the things that we do for the home. Then also it’s the volunteer recruitment, or trying to get some volunteers into the home so the residents can have a befriender because even though they have different activities in the home and they even have activities coordinators, sometimes they just really benefit from the one-to-one. What we basically started to do in the beginning of 2023 is a coffee morning. So, every month, so every last Monday of the month, we organise a coffee morning for the residents of Aspen Court where we basically just bring different cakes and we serve coffees and tea, and we have a chat with the residents – sometimes in a group, sometimes one-to-one – and also from the way how basically you see them like every month you can see that they’re really looking forward that we are coming in. There’s maybe something different – maybe they’re having some different cake or some different activities. So it’s also very beneficial for them, and just again to see even their smile on the faces just is really good.

 

Interviewer

Awesome. Do you have a favourite memory or a favourite story from your time volunteering at Aspen Court?

Sona Sladkova

Well, there is quite a few, so I would just choose some, even though I wasn’t really present at this one. But I had like pictures. Basically, when they had the Queen’s Jubilee party, and we supplied the home with some food for the party, even with some furniture. And then we also ordered a local ice cream van, and I think everybody really enjoyed that, and it was just great to see how the day went. It made them happy, and it wasn’t just for the residents, but also it was for the older staff, and carers, and also for the family members of the residents.

Interviewer

All right, cool. And have you done any volunteering in your life outside of Friends of Aspen Court?

Sona Sladkova

Well, I am also involved in Attend Befriending Service, so basically I would say I volunteer or I befriend a lady. We’ve actually talked for the last three years now every week. And it’s mainly over the phone, but over these three years, there was at least, I would say, five to six occasions that we met face to face, or we went for a coffee, or we just met for Christmas. So, it’s really nice to do this.

Interviewer

Awesome, and as someone who has a lot of volunteering experience, do you have any advice for newcomers to the volunteering world or people who would like to start volunteering but haven’t yet?

Sona Sladkova

Well, I would maybe advise for the ones who didn’t start to volunteer because I started to volunteer, I think, four years ago for the first time. And I would say just the general feeling and the conversation with someone, or just giving a little bit of your time and, maybe a little bit of yourself can really maybe make someone happy or just, if somebody was feeling lonely, you can just again, brighten up their day and I think all of us can do a bit of that.

Interviewer

Awesome. Well that’s a great note to end on. Do you have anything else you would like to share about yourself or about Friends of Aspen Court that hasn’t been said yet?

Sona Sladkova

I also maybe forgot to mention that there are lots of different activities that as a chairman I have a chance to participate in organising for the residents and that would be, for example, different events like, let’s say, animal sensory experience that they really like or just to contribute to different events throughout the year.

Interviewer

Cool.

Sona Sladkova

That’s all. Or maybe that’s all I can remember at the moment, <laugh>, because there was quite a few.

Interviewer

Yeah. Well, thank you so much for doing the interview.

Sona Sladkova

Thank you.