Loraine Martin volunteered as a tea party host for 25 years. She tells us a bit about her experience and, now that she no longer volunteers, why she has decided to remember Re-engage in her will.

“The biggest party I had was 13 people, all sitting around my dining room table. It was clear how much they enjoyed the social aspect, making friends with each other and the volunteers. It was nice that the same people came every time so they could develop a real friendship. Most of them had lived through the war so, of course, they had that in common immediately and they had a lot of stories to tell.

When I started volunteering, I was still working full-time for a medical charity. It was something I could do on a weekend and it was perfectly easy for me to go shopping for tea, three or four times a year. It was great to see how something so simple could make such a difference.

I always look back on my volunteering time very positively and I’ve mentioned it many times to my friends and family. My niece also volunteered as a tea party host for a while.

Unfortunately, I had to stop volunteering when I hurt my wrist rather badly. By then I’d moved to a smaller house and it was difficult to fit everyone in. So I thought, well okay, it’s coming up for 25 years, that’s probably a good time to say goodbye.

But I still wanted to help out somehow and decided it would be nice to give a donation each year, sort of in lieu of all the tea party sandwiches really.

It also made sense to me to include a gift to Re-engage in my will. I had such a great time as a volunteer that I want to make sure that the charity continues to help many more older people, far into the future.

It was a pretty straightforward process. My solicitor guided me through everything and I just needed to include the charity’s name, address and charity number.

Particularly now, I think people are becoming more and more isolated. It’s much more difficult to get out and about. I do feel we have a responsibility to try to make sure older people don’t feel lonely and if my legacy can be to play a part in doing that then I will be happy.”

Leaving a gift to Re-engage in your will is one of the most impactful ways you can make a difference. Any gift, large or small, will help relieve the awful pain of loneliness experienced by so many people as they get older.

Contact us to find out more about how to write or update your will. 

You can also write your will for free with Kwil, our online will-writing partner. Kwil make the process quick and easy, there is no cost to you or us and no obligation to leave us a gift.