Imogen originally contacted the Community Circles Project hosted by Age UK in Doncaster looking for support for herself.  Imogen lives alone and had to retire earlier than planned due to ill health.  In her own words she shares; “I had traded a very busy life with lots of colleagues and a sense of purpose, to spending hours alone and seeing no one for days….my world had become extremely small”.  However, after meeting with Imogen and discussing what changes she wanted to achieve we realised that we could help her accomplish a new sense of purpose by supporting her to volunteer with us.

Imogen loves to read and has published a couple of her own books.  We had just started working with the Reader Charity via Doncaster Library with a view to introducing a Shared Reading Group into the Circles Drop-In sessions and thought that Imogen would be a great ‘Reader Leader’ for our group.  Doncaster Library funded Imogen’s training and she is now co-hosting the Circles Shared Reading Group with another volunteer.

Imogen has told us that the sense of welcome and inclusivity she has received from the Circles Team has been terrific and that “it is very good indeed to feel useful once more”.

Imogen told us: “I didn’t feel this would happen again, as I am now 70 years old and it is not nearly the end of my story, it is simply a new chapter!”