Forget Me Not is currently recruiting for 150 new volunteers in the Huddersfield area.
Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice, who support local children with life shortening conditions and their families, is currently recruiting for 150 new volunteers in the Huddersfield area.
These exciting opportunities are available across a number of roles including shop assistants, family support workers and a whole host of fundraising roles.
To kick off the recruitment process, the hospice is opening its doors on Tuesday 21st March from 5pm-8pm for anyone interested in volunteering to come along and ask any burning questions they may have.
Kielly Law, who looks after Volunteer Recruitment at the hospice explains
“Currently there are over 400 volunteers who give up their precious time to support the charity in a number of ways. From shop assistants and drivers to family support workers and fundraisers – the list of volunteer roles is endless.”
Each role is pivotal in allowing the organisation to keep saying yes to children and families who need help.
“Volunteering with us can be really flexible,” continues Kielly “we have volunteers who support us 1 or 2 days a week, right through to those who just give a few hours whenever they can, but every hour that someone gives is extremely valuable to us.”
Shops
Forget me not currently has 8 shops across West Yorkshire, of which 6 of them are in and around the Huddersfield area. With big growth plans ahead they are currently recruiting for shop volunteers across the area.
“We are looking for more than 100 volunteers to help us grow in order to reach out to more children and families.”
Family support
There are various roles available working with children such as sibling support, family support carers and complimentary therapists. These are exciting opportunities are available for people who have experience working with children and who can offer longer term commitments.
“We are looking for 20 volunteers to help grow our care services and support the children and families we care for.”
Fundraising
The charity is always on the lookout for volunteers who may want an ad hoc role but who are still committed to supporting Forget Me Not. These roles can be anything from bucket collections to supermarket bag packing.
“We also have annual events such as our Colour Run and Lantern trail which we need an army of volunteers to help us run.”
Why Volunteer?
People of all ages give up their time and volunteer for a number of reasons. For some, it is simply about meeting new people, making new friends and a chance to socialise. For others it’s about gaining valuable work experience whether looking to get into work for the first time or someone looking to get back into work after a period of unemployment. Many people volunteer as part of either a workplace, educational or award placement, for example the Duke of Edinburgh Award.
“Nearly a third of the paid team members currently working in the Retail team here at Forget Me Not started their journey as a volunteer, this shows the true value that volunteering has and what it can lead to” says Gareth Pierce, Head of Trading.
How do I get involved?
Forget Me Not are holding a volunteer open evening on Tuesday 21st of March from 5pm to 8pm. If you are interested in volunteering with them, why not drop in and talk to them about the roles that they currently have available.
“We are holding this evening so that anyone who is interested in volunteering with us can drop in and have a chat with us about how they can help. We will be serving refreshments on the night and there will be people on hand to talk about what it is like to volunteer for the hospice, what you can gain from it and the different areas that you can volunteer in” concludes Kielly.