Hope House celebrates the impact of young volunteers

Hope House Children’s Hospice is marking National Student Volunteering Week by celebrating the impact young volunteers have on their charity.

Students such as 15-year-old Kate Goodman devote time and energy to volunteering at the charity’s 14 shops spread across Cheshire, Shropshire, Mid and North Wales.

Their regular commitment helps the charity to raise the funds it needs to provide vital care and support to terminally ill children and their families, and counselling for bereaved families, across the region.

Kate began volunteering as part of her Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award. After completing the six months needed for her award she decided she was so enjoying the experience that she would stay on, and has now been helping out for over a year.

As well as developing her skills, Kate has gained confidence from spending time with the other shop volunteers and customers, and enjoys knowing how her volunteering is having an impact on the children and families who rely on Hope House.

kate said: “I used to like exploring charity shops and seeing what I could find, so when I needed to do some volunteering I immediately thought of a charity shop. I love it here because everyone is so friendly.

“My favourite job is getting a massive box of donated books, CDs or DVDs and researching them online to find out their value. Anything unusual can be sold through Ebay to raise more money. Just this week we have had a huge box of Ordnance Survey maps donated and one of them has been valued at £120!”

Volunteering officer Di Murr added: “Kate is fantastic, and it is brilliant for us to have someone who can come in regularly and spend their time researching values for us so we can identify the item’s true potential. Last year alone just one of our stores raised £9,000 from Ebay.

“Kate is a really important part of the team and gets on really well with everyone, volunteers and customers. We have other young people who come in to help too, either for a week’s work experience or for Duke of Edinburgh. Our shop teams cover all ages and it makes for a great dynamic.”

Hope House and Ty Gobaith have shops in Bangor, Denbigh, Llandudno, Wrexham, Chester, Nantwich, Bridgnorth, Church Stretton, Ludlow, Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Wellington and Welshpool. All are constantly in need of volunteers of all ages to help with a variety of roles.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering please call into your local shop or contact volunteering officer Di Murr on 01691 679679 or email volunteer@hopehouse.org.uk.