A Westbury volunteer is supporting a national campaign to raise awareness of good causes.
As part of UK Charity Week (December 2nd-8th), Helen Slay is sharing her own story of why she enjoys helping others.
Helen joined the Barnardo’s store in Westbury in April and has since donated around 150 hours, coming in twice a week to help with sorting the stock and serving customers.
She describes her colleagues as “brilliant” and hopes to encourage more people to join the team.
Helen, from Dilton Marsh, wanted to do something useful with her free time after retiring from a career in insurance.
She said, “I hadn’t volunteered before, but I wanted to give something back to society, and I was impressed by my local Barnardo’s store – it was modern and fresh, and everyone was really friendly.
“I like the variety of tasks available. Sometimes I’ll be sorting the stock and placing it on the shelves and rails, other times I’ll be serving customers or arranging window displays.
“You never know what you’re going to receive from the donors. It can be quite a treasure trove. One day we received an old suitcase but it was absolutely full of fantastic quality clothes and we spent an entire morning going through all of the contents.
“The whole team are brilliant, and it’s nice to be part of a bigger project where you can make a difference to someone’s life.”
Barnardo’s manager Nicola Miles said, “Helen is a valued member of the team and we’re glad that she wanted to share her story as part of UK Charity Week. We appreciate every hour donated by every one of our volunteers, helping us to raise much-needed funds to support the charity’s work with children and young people across the UK.”
The Barnardo’s store is open Monday-Saturday from 9am-5pm and on Sundays from 10am-4pm, and always welcomes donations of good-quality clothes, books, toys, games, accessories and bric-a-brac, as well as offers of help from volunteers. Call (01373) 822515.
