Volunteer Stories: Patrice

Follow our series of volunteer stories, starting with Patrice!

Patrice volunteered at the Light Project’s cessation clinic for 18 months. Most of her family members smoked and having learnt more about the negative impacts, wanted to help other people to quit. Patrice’s role includes representing Octopus at local community events, and speaking to those interested in learning more about smoking cessation.

Patrice found that a lot of people she met through the clinic were also struggling with social isolation. Having found this to be the same for a high number of those accessing the cessation clinics, Octopus began offering Mental Health First Aid training for new volunteers. These added skills have enabled volunteers like Patrice to help their clients further, and added to the skillset of those who volunteer.

Adapting during lockdown:

During the pandemic, when smoking cessation clinics had to be paused, Patrice didn’t stop volunteering, instead she took a leadership role in local food provision. She founded the foodbank at the Light Project Pro International, and was always on hand to help out wherever was needed, helping to ensure that no member of the local community went without food. She volunteered at the food hubs at Elizabeth House and Andover Community Centres.

Patrice’s confidence increased through her volunteering work, and supporting people to stop smoking in particular has made her proud of the determination her clients have. Patrice’s work hasn’t just been to teach people about the negative effects of smoking, but t understand the reasons behind their habit, and the other health challenges which impact their smoking.

These skills have made a long lasting difference to Patrice, who successfully secured a role as a paid cessation advisor with Breathe. Patrice feels that the teamwork and communication skills she gained from volunteering helped her to secure this role, and ensure she can help others stop smoking for years to come.

The Breathe project was run in partnership with Solutions4Health to provide Islington’s smoking cessation programme. The programme began with a clinic at St Luke’s Community Centre and then went on to expand into other centres across the borough, all with volunteers at their heart.