There Are More Ways to Help
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Not everyone who wants to make a difference in North Shropshire wants a job. Some people have a few hours a month rather than a career. Some are retired and want to give something back without the commitment of employment. Some are exploring whether care work is for them before making a bigger decision. Some simply want to do something useful for their community and are not sure where to start.
This page is for all of you.
The ageing population of North Shropshire is one of the oldest in England. The rural isolation that shapes life in Whixall, Prees, Ash, and the villages between them is real and its effects on older residents are serious. The community services that have historically filled the gaps — voluntary transport schemes, befriending services, day centres — are all under pressure from funding cuts and a shrinking pool of volunteers.
What follows is an honest guide to how you can help, whether that is directly with NSHC, or through the wider network of community organisations that serve the same people we do.
Ways to Help Directly With NSHC
Student Placements and Work Experience
If you are studying health and social care, nursing, occupational therapy, social work, or a related discipline at any level — from BTEC to degree to postgraduate — we welcome conversations about work experience and placement opportunities at NSHC.
We have hosted students who have gone on to careers in care, nursing, and allied health professions.
If you are a student in this area or home for the holidays and interested in experiencing what our industry has to offer before committing to it, call us or drop us an email. We are always glad to talk.
Fundraising Support
Events like our Dementia UK charity bingo night — which brought together 31 local businesses and a full room at the Archibald Worthington Club in June 2026 — take organising. If you have skills in events coordination, graphic design, social media, local business networking, or just the willingness to help carry tables and set up a bingo hall, we would love to hear from you.
We are a small team. Fundraising events are something we do because we believe in the causes, not because we have a dedicated events department. Any help with this kind of work is genuinely appreciated and goes directly toward causes like Dementia UK Admiral Nurses that serve the families we work with every day.
Sharing Our Content
If something on this website or in our blog / facebook page has been useful to you — the community directory, the guide to home care, the care, the seasonal health articles — sharing it with one person who might need it is a real contribution.
Most families who need home care don't find it until they are already in a crisis. Content that reaches people earlier — via a church newsletter, a village Facebook group, a GP surgery waiting room notice, a word to a neighbour — saves real distress. If you can help us reach people before the crisis rather than during it, that matters.
Community Intelligence
We know North Shropshire well. We do not know everything. If you are aware of a vulnerable person in your village who you are concerned about — someone who seems increasingly isolated, who is not managing, whose situation appears to be deteriorating — and you are not sure who to tell, you can tell us. We are not a statutory authority and we cannot intervene without invitation, but we can signpost, we can suggest who to call, and in some cases we can make the kind of friendly introductory contact that opens a door that was previously closed.
We also occasionally hear from people who know of a local service, group, or resource that is not yet on our community directory. If you know of something we have missed, email us and we will add it.
Ways to Help Across the Wider North Shropshire Community
These are organisations that serve the same people we do, and that need volunteer support in specific, practical ways.
Drive for North Salop Wheelers
This is the most urgent and most impactful volunteering opportunity in North Shropshire for anyone with a car and a few hours on a Friday.
North Salop Wheelers is the volunteer-run community bus service that connects rural villages — Whixall, Prees, Tilstock, Ash, Calverhall, Ightfield, and others — to Whitchurch and Wem for the weekly market. For many of its passengers, this is their primary outing of the week. Without the Wheelers, they do not go.
The service is facing a genuine crisis of volunteer numbers. Fewer drivers means fewer routes. Fewer routes means more isolated older residents. The maths is straightforward. If you can drive, have a morning free on a Friday or Thursday, and would be willing to give a few hours a month to keeping this service alive, contact North Salop Wheelers directly at northsalopwheelers.co.uk.
Befriend Someone Through Age UK Shropshire
Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin's befriending volunteers visit lonely older people at home or provide regular telephone friendship, usually committing around two to three hours a week over a sustained period. All volunteers attend a short training session, provide references, and are DBS-checked — which Age UK organises and funds.
This is one of the most quietly valuable things a person can do in this community. The research on loneliness in older adults is unambiguous: 270,000 older people in England go a week without speaking to a friend or family member. A regular visitor or telephone caller is not a small thing. For some people, it is the only consistent human contact in their week.
Contact Age UK Shropshire Telford & Wrekin on 01743 233123 or email volunteering@ageukstw.org.uk
Help at the Age UK Whitchurch Day Centre
The Whitchurch Day Centre runs every Tuesday at Kingsway Court, SY13 1DQ. It provides a hot two-course lunch, activities, and company for older residents who would otherwise spend Tuesday alone.
Information about the service can be found HERE.
It relies on volunteers to help run the sessions — setting up, serving lunch, sitting with guests, tidying away. If you have a Tuesday morning and the inclination, this is a direct, tangible contribution to the wellbeing of older people in Whitchurch.
Support Shropshire Carers
Shropshire Carers runs peer support groups across the county for unpaid family carers — including the Whitchurch Peer Carers Group for dementia carers, which meets monthly at Bradbury Day Centre. These groups are invaluable for carers who need to talk to people who actually understand what they are going through.
If you have lived experience of caring for a relative and would be willing to share that experience in a supportive group setting, Shropshire Carers would like to hear from you.
Contact: 01743 341995 or shropshire.carers@shropshire.gov.uk
Volunteer for the NHS Patient Transport Service
Shropshire Community Car Service uses volunteer drivers to take patients to hospital and GP appointments — essential journeys for people who cannot manage public transport and who cannot afford or access taxis for every medical appointment.
This is particularly vital for residents in the more rural parts of our area. A medical appointment that becomes impossible to reach is a health risk that compounds over time.
Contact: 01743 255613
“A strong team isn’t built on a rota. It’s built on trust, consistency, and people who actually know each other. And most importantly we are always on your side.”
Are You Thinking About a Career in Care?
If reading this page has made you wonder whether a role at NSHC might be for you — either now or in the future — the Careers page has everything you need to understand what the job involves, what the training looks like, what we pay, and what kind of people we are looking for.
We are always glad to have an informal conversation with someone who is exploring care as a career, even if they are not ready to apply. Call us on 01948 411222 or email mail@nshomecare.co.uk and we will answer any questions honestly.
A Final Thought
North Shropshire is a community where people look after each other. It always has been. The elderly residents on the lanes between Prees and Whitchurch, the isolated older person in Whixall who lost their driving licence two years ago, the family carer in Wem who has not had a morning to themselves in months — these are not abstract statistics. They are your neighbours.
The formal care system, stretched as it is, cannot do everything. It was never designed to. What fills the gaps between the care visits and the GP appointments and the district nursing rounds is community — people with a car, a Tuesday morning, a willingness to make a phone call, a spare hour for a weekly chat.
If you have any of those things and are looking for somewhere to put them, this is a good place to start.
📞 01948 411222
✉️ mail@nshomecare.co.uk
North Shropshire Homecare
The Coach House, 15/17 Green End, Whitchurch, SY13 1AD
Independently owned. Locally staffed. Community-minded. Since 2011.
We are the Gold Standard.
Exceptional support begins with listening. Before we ever step through your door, we work closely with you to design a fully bespoke care plan tailored to your exact needs, routines, and lifestyle.
We champion true person-centred care, ensuring you remain firmly in control of the entire process from day one. By arranging a comprehensive, relaxed assessment with you and anyone you choose to involve—whether that is family, friends, or advocates—we guarantee that every detail is perfectly aligned with your wishes. With us, your care is always delivered exactly how you want it, on your terms.