Teresa O’Driscoll – Leeds Irish Health & Homes

As a first-generation Irish person, Teresa volunteers to continue her connection with the Irish community or as she puts it, “rubbing shoulders with your own”. After retiring from Leeds Irish Health and Homes Teresa was keen to make sure that some of the creative projects continued and so she became a volunteer.

Teresa cares about storytelling, particularly old Irish stories and Irish mythology. She reflected that often people tell stories of war and famine, however she encourages people to talk about the ‘good spirit’ and fairytales to keep hold of the rich Irish culture and that gives people hope. Now her volunteering role involves taking clients to the theatre, giving them a reason to dress up and feel good. Teresa opens the door to the arts, when people say, “it’s not a thing we do” she responds, “come on, come, give it a go”.

To those who are considering volunteering Teresa says “so the volunteering can be an unknown, but like, step in there, don’t be frightened, step in there because, it’s fun. And you can always change your mind, or do something different, try it out, give it a go. In Ireland they’d say, ‘have a lash off it’ meaning, like, take a chance!”