A young volunteer’s growing confidence is making a lasting difference to families while opening up new opportunities for her own future.
Nineteen-year-old Becca Davies has been volunteering at Dartmouth Caring’s parent and baby group for the past two months after receiving support from Devon County Council’s Reaching for Independence service. Her contribution has helped the group increase from meeting fortnightly to every week, benefiting parents and babies across the community.
The Reaching for Independence service supports people aged 17 and over to develop life skills and become more independent through a team of community enablers.
Sharon Simmons, a community enabler supporting Becca, said: “We talked about what kind of things Becca wanted to achieve, and she decided she wanted to do her travel training. As the weeks went by there were not any groups that Becca wanted to join, so I took her to Dartmouth Caring and they suggested she might want to do a bit of volunteering.
“We progressed with the travel training and I gradually stepped back as Becca was able to go on her own on the bus all the way there. We did a story map so she knew where to get off and where she had to cross.
“Step-by-step it built up her confidence and eventually she was able to do it on her own. It is great to see how she has come on. The world’s her oyster. She can put her mind to anything now.”
The travel training enabled Becca to build the confidence to travel independently by bus to her volunteering role with Dartmouth Caring.
Becca said: “It is really good. Sharon does lovely things with me and I really enjoy it. I got the Stagecoach app thanks to Sharon and that is how I use the bus.
“I feel really excited because it is really what I wanted to do. Basically we set up the toys and sometimes I bring water to the parents and I help as well. It makes me really happy.”
Becca is now one of around 100 volunteers at Dartmouth Caring, working alongside mostly part-time staff.
April Faulkner, community and volunteer engagement manager at Dartmouth Caring, said: “I chatted with Sharon to find out Becca’s interests and when she was explaining to me how sociable and outgoing and helpful she likes to be, I really felt we could benefit from having Becca on our volunteer team. We were thrilled when Becca was keen to join us.
“It has been wonderful to see Becca’s confidence grow. Her reliability and commitment to helping has meant we can go weekly with our group. It has been really valuable to have her support. Her sunny disposition and social skills really lend themselves well to this group where people are coming along and looking to connect with other parents and have a good chat with a friendly team.
“I would hope for Becca that we can help develop her role and give her more responsibilities as time goes on, when it is right for her, and even look at other volunteering roles within our charity as well. We are always looking for more people to join us and feel very strongly that it brings as much benefit to the individual volunteering as it does to those they are helping.”
Becca’s mother, Jane Davies, said she was encouraged to contact Reaching for Independence after another parent recommended the service. She said: “Now she is a young adult we wanted her to find out how much she can do on her own and find that independence. The only way she is going to find out what she wants to do in the future is by trying lots of different things. Becca had never gone on a bus on her own before, she had not done any volunteering, other than through school which they had set up and accompanied her.
“You have so many conflicting things you are trying to achieve for a young person with special needs, so for someone independent to come and take one of those things from beginning to end and achieve something, that is wonderful. Gold dust!
“The volunteering has really helped because that gives her opportunities at the end of the day and that will open doors for her. It is great seeing her do these things on her own.
“I think she was probably ready and I did not realise. The fact she has come on so well is down to her and with help from Reaching for Independence it has made all the difference. I am very proud.”
Devon County Council’s cabinet member for adult services, Cllr Richard Keeling, said: “Our Reaching for Independence team is helping people gain important life skills that are often taken for granted by many of us, but it can open up so many opportunities for our service users.
“The fact that Becca’s help has made it possible for Dartmouth Caring’s parent and baby group to become a weekly event speaks volumes about the difference people can make in their community. Well done to Becca and to everyone involved in making it possible for her to take up her volunteering role.”
As part of Learning Disability Week 2026, Becca encouraged others who may be eligible for support through the Reaching for Independence service to give it a try.
She said: “Try it because it is really great to get started.”
More information about the Reaching for Independence service is available at https://www.devon.gov.uk/adult-social-care/independent-living/reaching-for-independence-service/, while details about Learning Disability Week can be found at https://www.mencap.org.uk/learningdisabilityweek.
