My name is Hilary Halter, and I came into volunteering back in the mid-1990s. When I retired from work, I didn't want to be sitting around all day, so I went to Jewish Care and gradually got involved. My first major role was as a ‘volunteer coordinator’ at a home in Highbury. I used to organise activities and had a wonderful time.

For a time, I did music groups called ‘Music for Life’ for people with dementia. The idea was to get one of the members of the group to start playing their percussion instrument, and gradually, people with musical instruments would join in. Maybe it was a bit of a cacophony. But it was lovely.

"I volunteer for purely selfish reasons. I always say it keeps me happy; I enjoy it. And what would I do otherwise? I'm happy to say I've been rewarded most unexpectedly. I think it's wonderful that one could be rewarded for doing something that you do for purely selfish reasons."