Volunteer Stories

“I spent my first week at the coffee shop where I met Maureen and the rest is history.”

“We’ve been here ever since and always help out with Hospice events together. It’s great to have a catch up with a good friend and help the Hospice at the same time. We get to meet new people and spend time chatting to our Living Well Centre guests while they enjoy tea and a scone in the coffee shop.”

“A year after Carmel’s passing, I decided that I wanted to give something back to the Hospice as a way of saying thank you for all they had done for us. I’d been lucky enough to retire from work and had a little spare time each week so I applied for a volunteer driver role. I’ve now been part of the team since 2018 and I enjoy every minute of it! I’d recommend it to anyone. If you’re at a loose end and have the time to spare, why not give your time to a worthy cause?”

Adam has been volunteering with us in our Hospice Gardens since February 2019. Here, he shares his experience, hoping to encourage more young people to volunteer.

We sat down with Anna recently to chat about her role as Volunteer Retail Assistant at our Houghton-le-Spring shop. It was lovely to hear why she chose to volunteer and what it means to her.

"The Rainbow Ramble was a wonderful day of community, colours and most importantly charity."

"I volunteer to give something back. I’ve never worked in retail, but I love it. I’ve built a rapport with the customers and we have some who come from miles away. I have got to know the regular customers enough to be able to point out items I think they’d like and have a chat with them."

Retired Fireman Ken Allday, 89, has donated one of his most prized possessions, his 2012 Olympic Torch, to us at St Cuthbert's Hospice. Ken lost his soul mate Joan to cancer in 2010 when she died peacefully at our Hospice and he credits our team for keeping him going all the years since.