Barnardo’s bids farewell to ‘Auntie Kath’

A WESTBURY volunteer has retired after 20 years of fundraising for a children’s charity.

Kathleen Leach has been supporting Barnardo’s for two decades, starting at the Kingsway Precinct store in Frome and then at the Palomino Place store in Westbury.

The 87-year-old became so popular with customers’ children that she became known as ‘Auntie Kath’.

In recognition of her long service, Kath was presented with a rose bowl and flowers and was joined by former staff and volunteers from both stores.

Kath, from Dilton Marsh said, “Volunteering gave me a reason to get out of the house rather than just sitting in a chair all day, and it was really nice to be supporting a children’s charity.

“Most of my time was spent supporting the Frome store but the bus journey was quite long, so I switched to the Westbury store when it opened as it was much closer to home.

“I was still volunteering for an afternoon each week but decided that it was finally time for me to take a break. I’ll miss it very much but I’ll still pop in to say ‘hello.’”

Barnardo’s store associate Debbi Griffiths said, “Kath has demonstrated an amazing commitment to the charity and she’ll be sorely missed.”

The Westbury store is open Monday-Saturday from 9am-5.30pm and on Sundays from 10am-4pm.

The team always welcome donations of good-quality clothes, books, toys, games, accessories and bric-a-brac, as well as offers of help from potential volunteers. Call (01373) 822515.  Last year Barnardo’s supported 272,000 children, young people and families through more than a thousand services across the UK.

Above: Kath Leach with manager Linda Hazell, store associate Debbi Griffiths with current and former staff and volunteers from the Westbury and Frome stores