Voluntary Services Lewisham

Who we are

Voluntary Services Lewisham (VSL), is an independent charity founded in 1969.  Although the charity was originally set up to deliver services supporting people living in the Forest Hill & Sydenham area, the organisation has developed in recent years and now our services are span across the borough of Lewisham.

Our Aims and Objectives

VSL aims to support and empower people in the community, with the objective to enable community engagement, social inclusion and to promote wellbeing by:

• Providing an easily accessible support service and a focal point for voluntary services
• Providing direct voluntary services to groups and individuals within the borough of Lewisham
• Promoting volunteering and identifying new volunteering opportunities
• Recruiting, training, placing and supporting volunteers in voluntary activities.
• Providing service user forums along with other local and national research, to identify Lewisham community needs
• Developing services according to the identified needs, and where appropriate working in partnership with other voluntary or statutory agencies to deliver quality services.

Who Do We Help

We operate within an equality and diversity framework and our service users include the following groups:

• Older people
• Vulnerable adults
• People with physical disabilities
• People experiencing mental health difficulties
• Children & families from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Single parents
• Unemployed
• People in recovery from addiction

VSL Projects Include:

Transport - VSL Volunteer Driving Scheme and Access Lewisham Project
Mental Health - Drop-ins and a Happiness and Wellbeing Programme
Befriending and Other Projects - Befriending, Office and Trustees, School helpers, Shopping/Escorting, Sitting/relief for carers, Lunch club helpers and DIY , Wheelchair Assistance.
Seasonal projects - Gardening Maintenance and Christmas project