The housing association provides homes for more than 7,500 residents by managing more than 4,000 properties throughout East Anglia.

The charity Community360 was formed in May 1968 and has been serving residents in Essex for 50 years.

Gemma Bloomfield, business development manager (Support and Care) at Orwell Housing Association said: “Historically we have had volunteers in place but needed a more structured approach to delivering our volunteer service.”

She added: “We approached Community360 as they had a strong track record of delivering and building a strong volunteering base. As they had previously worked with Colchester Borough Council and Suffolk Housing we decided to tap into their specialist knowledge and skills to grow our base of volunteers.

“Community360 will be working with our staff and the community to recruit volunteers who can generously give their time to enrich the lives of older people and the vulnerable, ensuring they stay connected to others and their communities. This could be helping with community projects such as gardening or DIY, to helping in one of our care schemes assisting with admin or finance, befriending, reading or running an activity such as dance and keep fit projects. We also welcome volunteers to support those with learning disabilities, the homeless and young people, whom we support here at Orwell.

“We want local people to come together to support their community, and help combat loneliness and isolation.

“Giving your time as a volunteer can be extremely rewarding which is why we will have a wide range of roles for you to choose. Volunteering can have a positive impact on your community and it can have a lot of benefits for you too, you can make a difference.”

Community360 will work with Orwell Housing Association to recruit volunteers.

They also run community transport services in Colchester and Maldon, facilitating more than 50,000 trips each year for people who have difficulty accessing public transport.

The organisation has grown considerably and now stretches beyond its original footprint of Colchester, into Braintree, Tendring and Maldon, with some projects now covering the whole of Essex and now into Suffolk.

Tracy Rudling, chief executive of Community360, states “Volunteers are valuable assets within all community organisations. They are able to bring their own unique experiences and skills sets to support people and places in a variety of positive ways.”