Carole Trodden started volunteering at Blythe House Hospicecare’s New Mills Shop in May 2022. Carole felt she wanted to give something back to the community, after a beloved friend died at a nearby hospice.
Carole was donating items to the shop on Union Road when she saw a sign in the window that stated: ‘Could you spare four hours to volunteer here?’ The Disley resident had recently semi-retired from her 20-year role as a records manager in an NHS mental health trust. She said: ‘That’s what drew me in; I wanted to give back to my local community.’
When starting her role at New Mills shop every Wednesday morning, Carole loves the feeling that she had no intense responsibilities given to her, unlike her previous strategic role, and she can just be herself, have fun and be creative. Carole has ‘hit it off instantly’ with a fellow volunteer, and they’ve become great friends.
Jayne, the manager of the shop describes the pair as the “creative team,” spending their Wednesday mornings at the shop, normally up the ladders creating and re-arranging new and exciting displays.
Carole said: ‘We really look forward to our shifts as they are so much fun. We love chatting to customers and our regulars; meeting new people; being creative and just the fact that every day is different.
‘We sort through donations and display items for sale. One of my favourite parts of sorting through bags is that you never quite know what you’ll find; it’s like a guessing game of “what’s in the bag?” Many times, donors will share stories about why they’re donating items – some are very poignant and emotional – we receive some wonderful donations.
‘Another aspect I enjoy about volunteering here is that the Blythe House and Helen’s Trust charity shops have a zero waste to landfill policy on saleable items, which is such an amazing thing that you don’t often see in charity shops and it’s such a big plus for the hospice being more environmentally conscious.’
Could you spare just four hours of your time per week to volunteer in one of our local shops? We’d be delighted to hear from you!
