Helen is one of our most recent volunteers, having joined us in September 2024. She’s on our bank and typically comes in every other week or sometimes more often.
“I first heard about Pickering through my then golf club in Crowborough maybe ten years ago,” she explains. “There was a competition each year and at that time it was raising money for Pickering. I hadn’t heard of the charity and was interested to learn about what happens here.”
Then, last year, Helen’s dog sadly died.
“I suddenly had a big hole in my day-to-day life and decided to fill it with volunteering,” she explains. “My background was in nursing and, during my time, I’ve also worked in a hospice. In addition, I’ve had experience in a cancer support centre in Hampshire, where we lived at the time. My role there was taking phone calls and chatting to people.”
She continues: “I considered volunteering in a local charity shop but, particularly with my background, I really wanted a role where I could talk to people and I remembered hearing about Pickering all those years ago – so got in touch. Pickering is such a wonderful resource and I think of everything we do here, the most important aspect is simply listening to visitors, giving them that vital opportunity to offload.”