Meet Barbara Stephens – Therapy, Resource & Information Centre (TRIC) Volunteer, eBay and Trustee with Hospice at Home West Cumbria

I think I have volunteered for just over three years. I originally volunteered at (TRIC) Finkle Street Reception, then I started selling donated items on the Hospice eBay shop, and for just over a year I have also been a Trustee of the charity. My husband Trevor also assists on an ad-hoc basis.

Why do you volunteer for HHWC?

 “I retired in 2016 after a very busy working life, including commuting weekly to London for 16 years. I had lost contact with the community, and thought volunteering would help me reconnect, and also help preserve my sanity. I have also been a supporter of the hospice movement (both my father and father-in-law were cared for in a conventional bricks and mortar in the south of England). I had donated to Hospice at Home in the past and was interested when I saw the receptionist role advertised”

What are the best things about volunteering for HHWC?

“The contact with a wide range of lovely people (volunteers, staff and clients), and the feeling that one is making a real contribution to the community and the wellbeing of individuals. At the moment, the eBay sales have provided a way of converting some of the donations we already had into revenue – not huge but another volunteer who sells on eBay and I are currently raising over £1000 a month in sales.”

If someone asked you about volunteering for HHWC, what would you say?

“I would encourage them to do so. There are a wide range of roles so most people will be able to find something that suits them, and the commitment can be whatever people feel able to make. The people are lovely, and the feeling that one is contributing to something really worthwhile and local is great.”

 Judith Gale – Family & Bereavement Support Volunteer, with Hospice at Home West Cumbria (HHWC)

My name is Judith Gale and I have been volunteering as a FABS volunteer with Hospice at Home West Cumbria for 5 years.

Why do you volunteer for HHWC?

“I volunteer because it’s a way to give back. To give something valuable back to the local community. That’s a big part of it for me, that Hospice at Home West Cumbria is working in West Cumbria. Whitehaven is my home town but I now live in Seascale. The people of West Cumbria are amazing, and it’s a good feeling to try and help in some way.”

What are the best things about volunteering for HHWC?

“I like the fact that I can use my skills to help people, and that they are appreciated within Hospice at Home. Volunteers in the area that I work in are given training and we have regular supervision meetings. There is a strong bond which has grown within the team. HHWC is highly regarded within the local community and I feel proud to be part of it.”

Do you have a memorable experience of volunteering for HHWC that you would like to share?

“Every time that a client says ‘thank you, you have helped me so much’ that is memorable to me. Seeing people move on with their lives after bereavement is very satisfying.”

If someone asked you about volunteering for HHWC, what would you say?

“It gives me a chance to use my skills, for a worthwhile purpose.”

Meet Ruth Giles – Shop Volunteer, with Hospice at Home West Cumbria (HHWC)

My name is Ruth Giles and I have been volunteering as a shop assistant in Cockermouth shop with Hospice at Home West Cumbria for 10 years.

Why do you volunteer for HHWC?

“I believe that Hospice at Home is vital for our community.”

What are the best things about volunteering for HHWC?

“Meeting new and regular customers. Chatting to them – we have a lot of tourists. Helping people – giving them time when they come to donate goods from a loved one who has died.”

Do you have a memorable experience of volunteering for HHWC that you would like to share?

“On a very quiet morning, when it would be easy to wonder if one is doing any good, having a customer who had just lost a close relative and needed to talk about them and the importance of the Hospice nurses.

Another time earlier this year when sales had been low, having a customer who needed household items for her daughter who had moved house, and being able to sell quality items that came to £56 – we were all delighted.”

If someone asked you about volunteering for HHWC, what would you say?

“Your time will be well spent for a most important cause – Hospice is an organisation that any of us here in West Cumbria may need.”

Meet Ruth Schofield – Fundraising Volunteer, with Hospice at Home West Cumbria (HHWC)

My name is Ruth Schofield and I started Volunteering in 2001, I am part of a small fund raising team based in Gosforth and Seascale.

Why do you volunteer for HHWC?

“When I retired, I wanted to do some charity work and knew there was this local group supporting a charity I thought was doing great work. I had heard about Dame Cecily Saunders and thought highly of what she had established.”

What are the best things about volunteering for HHWC?

“The friendships and team spirit within the local group and knowing we are contributing to enable people with terminal illness to be nursed at home.”

Do you have a memorable experience of volunteering for HHWC that you would like to share?

“No single memorable experience but having spent several hours over the years sitting by the Hospice collecting table at various stores between Cockermouth and Millom, I have been impressed by the wide variety of people who have been keen to donate easily to a charity which is local and also how many of them comment that Hospice has helped a member of their family. Many teenagers will pass us and then having realised who we are, turn back donate and say “you helped my Gran”. That makes volunteering really worthwhile.”

If someone asked you about volunteering for HHWC, what would you say?

“Do get involved, the amount of money which has to be raised locally is huge but it is such a good cause. There are several roles for volunteers, choose one which makes good use of your skills or one which you can do conveniently for you. It doesn’t have to be a mega event.

In my case, I decided I could use my skills best by fundraising, I joined a local group some of whom had been volunteering since the start of HHWC. We run several relatively small events each year usually at least 5 coffee mornings and one slightly larger event such as providing stalls and refreshments at an open garden day. There is a group of about 16, some of whom work at each event and because we do things together regularly we have developed a really good team spirit and enjoy ourselves in the process. We meet socially for lunch about once a month, recently it’s been at Seascale Golf Club, and this helps to keep us up to date with Hospice matters and our future plans as well as giving us a good time together.

Some of us will also volunteer at other Hospice events, collecting in stores, selling raffle tickets etc. on the whole we keep to the South of Copeland (Whitehaven to Millom), although we do venture as far as Cockermouth. We usually raise between £2,500 and £5,000 per year for instance in 2018 we raised £3,045.24. Over the years this must have amounted to a very large sum.

So, if there isn’t such a group in your area, why don’t you and your friends form one and start fund raising?”

 

 Meet Irene Cartner – Shop Volunteer with Hospice at Home West Cumbria (HHWC)

My name is Irene Cartner and I have volunteered for Hospice at Home West Cumbria for 7 years now, initially I volunteered in the Fundraising team in Oxford Street one morning a week and also in the Workington Shop on Jane Street a week.   When the Shop moved to Finkle Street I started to work two mornings week in the shop and no longer in the Fundraising team.

Why do you volunteer for HHWC?

“I decided to volunteer for HHWC when I retired because I knew all the money raised was spent in West Cumbria unlike some of the bigger charities on the High Street.  I had a friend who had experienced the care and attention from the Hospice and she was unable to volunteer and as she said ‘Give something back” I did it for her.”

What are the best things about volunteering for HHWC?

“The best things about volunteering for HHWC are as I have said above all the money is spent in West Cumbria, when the shop moved from Jane Street to Finkle Street we could see clients and patients and very often their families waiting in reception to see one of the nurses, a member of the FAB, or a Lymphedema nurse.  When the Finkle Street premises first opened not many patients etc. realised where the entrance to the Access centre was and they would come into the shop and we would guide them into reception. I was amazed at the number of people that were using the facility and I was struck by the amount of people I actually knew either personally or just by sight, perhaps someone I had known at school or someone who worked in a shop and or a bank. It all made volunteering very personal at that point and I knew I had made the right choice.”

Do you have a memorable experience of volunteering for HHWC that you would like to share?

“I don’t have one particular memorable experience that stands out but I am always amazed at how very grateful anyone is that have had any contact at all with hospice staff.  We receive many many wonderful donations and have many many regular customers who have become friends.  We get lots of bereaved families who have asked for donations for HHWC by way of a collecting box at the back of the church or crematorium, when they bring those donations into the shop for us to pass on and tell us their experiences and how the Hospice nursed a loved, one we are always happy to listen to their story and treat them with dignity and respect and thank them gratefully for the donation.

On one occasion two soaking wet young men came in because they had fallen in the river (Long story!) we managed to kit them out in some dry clothes and gave them a towel to dry themselves off in the changing room and gave them a cup of tea to get warmed up, they went off very happily and they still come in now and again to buy clothing! ”

If someone asked you about volunteering for HHWC, what would you say?

“If someone asked me about volunteering for HHWC I would encourage them to do so and explain how all the money is spent in West Cumbria, it’s a chance to learn new skills, meet new people, have a bit of fun from time to time, explain how rewarding and uplifting it can be and know that you are really appreciated for the time and effort you put in.”

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