In our Cleckheaton shop, Jane volunteers because she loves meeting people and because “I’m kept supplied with coffee!”
“I love volunteering at Forget Me Not because it’s a local cause - you know where the money’s going!”
Jane’s been volunteering with Forget Me Not for two years, first at the Heckmondwike shop, then at Cleckheaton. Prior to that she’d volunteered with a national charity for five years after retiring from the NHS. “I prefer Forget Me Not,” she says. “It’s better because it’s a local cause - you know where the money’s going!”
She thinks the hospice is amazing. “I didn’t realise all the things Forget Me Not does. People think the hospice is all about dying. It’s not like that at all.”
For Jane, volunteering at the shop is all about meeting people. “I just love chatting with our customers, meeting new people and making friends with our regulars.” So much so, Jane has her own set of customers who only come in on the two mornings a week she works! “Plus,” she says, it keeps your brain active, gets you out from the four walls and doing something worthwhile!”
Her role involves serving customers, working at the till and sorting and pricing donations. “There’s a lot to do,” she says, “but it’s not like a job. I really miss it when I’m not here!”
Jane would “absolutely recommend volunteering for Forget Me Not,” and not just for the free coffee and biscuits! “I just enjoy it so much!”