Services

The Attic Project is a free service that can help you to remove, recycle or re-organise your possessions in a way that works for you

Making space at home could;
• Create room for home repairs, adaptations and improvements
• Make it easier to get around your home
• Reduce your risk of fire, falls and accidents
• Help you to downsize or move to a more suitable home
• Help you home from hospital sooner

Who can use the Attic Project?
People aged 50+ living across Cardiff, Newport and The Vale of Glamorgan.

What can the Attic Project offer?
• Information and advice
• A home visit to discuss your needs
• The removal of your items free of charge
• Volunteer assistance to help you sort & make decisions about your possessions
• Provide opportunities for you to talk about the memories behind important belongings

We will never discard possessions without your consent.

Whilst the Attic Project can help you make space it is not able to address hoarding concerns or house clearance.

Sorting through possessions can bring back a lot of memories and the Attic Project offers you the opportunity to talk about the stories behind your possessions with one of our volunteers.

You can talk about your memories when sitting down with a volunteer having a cup of tea or whilst sorting through your items to make space at home. A conversation could be started by anything, from sorting through the smallest of items to looking through forgotten photographs.

If you would like us to, we will make a record of the stories you tell our volunteers and the conversations you have about your possessions which you can then pass onto friends & family.

Keeping memories

Volunteers can help you organise items that you don’t wish to part with through albums or memory boxes for example.

We can also help you keep or share important memories through written stories, audio recordings and photographs.

We will store these in an accessible way for you to pass onto your friends and family, or we can store them in our archive with your permission.

The Attic Project has different volunteering roles available;

Attic Project Volunteers
Support older people to sort through and organise possessions at home

Reminiscence Volunteers
Record older people’s memories through oral recordings, photographs, writing stories or memory boxes for example

Audio Editing Volunteer
Record memories by using editing software to combine photo’s and audio recordings

Community Outreach
Help spread the word about the Attic Project & it’s volunteer roles through communication, marketing or information events

If you are interested in a volunteer role, please email [email protected]

Time Commitment
Typically a few hours a week, flexible days between the hours of 9am-5pm on weekdays

Training
All volunteers receive a DBS check, induction and training covering: decluttering, reminiscence, active listening skills, lone working, health & safety and safeguarding

Additional training opportunities are regularly available

Support
Support is provided by our Reminiscence Project Coordinator and there are regular opportunities to meet with other volunteers

Expenses
Volunteers will not be out of pocket and travel expenses can be claimed back