Volunteer training for Guide Dogs

I've been getting ready to work as a volunteer for Guide Dogs UK, as a sighted guide. Although most people know Guide Dogs by their obvious association - guide dogs - they actually provide all manner of services to blind people, including many different types of mobility service.

One of these, My Guide, is the service for which I am in the process of getting ready to volunteer. It matches a blind person with a sighted guide (me) and we meet for 3 hours a week to get out and about and help the person meet certain pre-agreed goals.

I've completed the application, phone interview, reference check, DBS check, online training and the MyGuide training, I am just waiting to attend a half day Safeguarding training before I can be matched with someone and be their guide.

I have wanted to do some volunteering for a long time, and this is an organisation that is close to my heart. Being able to volunteer for just 3 hours a week is great, because I don't have a lot of time to give. I would like to do more, but at the moment, this is about what I can manage. I am planning on squeezing it in on a Friday afternoon.

I'm both nervous and excited about doing this. Nervous because I'll be working in a one on one situation with someone that I may not have much in common with, or may not even like very much. I'm hoping that it won't be the case that I would be matched with someone really grumpy, or depressed, or so elderly that they can barely walk anywhere. But, if I am, it will still be good to do it, and to help them out. People are people and I can work on my social skills as well as feeling good about doing someone a good turn.