For families in West Yorkshire who are facing or living with the loss of their child, Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice not only provides outstanding clinical care – but also a helping hand, listening ear and a place to be together to make the most of every moment.
Around 400 volunteers oil the wheels of our children’s hospice, quite literally keeping us running. We simply couldn’t manage without them. They contribute in so many ways, helping to ensure we can keep supporting more children and families.
We have an amazing team of dedicated volunteers who give their time regularly to support our charity. We really wanted to show our appreciation for their hard work and commitment. At the same time, we noticed that some of the volunteer facilities at the shop could use an update, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to address both things.
We decided to host a thank-you event at the shop, where we could serve afternoon tea. This event gave us a chance to thank our volunteers personally, chat about how their time is making a real difference to the charity, and get to know them even better. Some volunteers even brought along family members, and I was able to talk to them about the impact of volunteering and how they could get involved too, which was a great experience.
Although we’re incredibly proud and grateful for our Royton Volunteers, we also recognize the need to bring in more people to help with raising funds at the shop. To help with this, we’ve ordered a large banner to hang outside the shop on the railings and a pull-up banner to place inside the shop to advertise volunteer opportunities. We hope this will catch people’s attention and encourage them to come along for a taster session.
We also plan to celebrate our volunteers and share the story in our Volunteer Newsletter and on social media, so we can continue spreading the word about how important they are to us.
Our main goal was to improve the morale of our volunteers and staff, show them we value their hard work, enhance the shop’s facilities, and attract new volunteers. To achieve this, we planned a few key actions:
- Saying Thank You: As a way to show our appreciation, we organised an afternoon tea for the staff and volunteers at the shop. Morrison kindly decided to donate the food for the event.
- Improving the Break Area: We wanted to make the staff and volunteer break area more comfortable and practical, so we decided to buy a new microwave, kettle, and some cutlery for everyone to use.
- Attracting New Volunteers: To help spread the word about volunteer opportunities, we planned to put up a new banner on the shopfront. We also wanted a pull-up banner inside the shop to help catch people’s attention and encourage them to get involved.
The event was a great success, and we received a lot of positive feedback from the volunteers. There are 21 volunteers at our Royton Shop. Out of the 11 people who attended, 7 completed feedback forms. The feedback confirmed that our volunteers at the FMNCH Royton Charity Shop are very happy with their volunteering experiences and feel truly valued. We’ve learned that these kinds of events play an important role in boosting morale and strengthening the sense of appreciation among volunteers.
Some feedback we also received was that volunteers would like to see some more accessible roles. Based on this the Retail Volunteer Development Officer plans to engage with organisations who support those with protected characteristics so we can learn how to better support those with additional needs.
Based on the success of this event, we plan to host more in the future. It clearly helped volunteers feel recognised and motivated. Looking ahead, we’re hopeful that the new banners will help increase volunteer numbers in 2024, further supporting our mission.