While many of our volunteers perform specific roles for us, some, like the two Sheilas, create something special that’s all their own! And raise thousands in the process!
“It started with one tombola - and snowballed from there!”
When long-time friends Sheila H and Sheila W first heard about Forget Me Not, they wanted to do something to help. But after volunteering at an event where, “we sat there all day and raised about £8!” they thought they must be able to do better.
So they started with a tombola, “and it just snowballed from there!” says Sheila H. Now Team Sheila take their tombola and Forget Me Not stall to both corporate and community events throughout the year. And they have some regular spots too - at Huddersfield Bus Station and local supermarkets to name just two!
Everything they sell on their stall and all their tombola prizes are donated by friends and family and the contacts they’ve made. “We get stuff from all over the place,” Sheila H says. “People give us birthday presents they don’t want, things they’ve cleared out, all sorts! It’s amazing the variety of stuff we’re given.”
Having known children and parents who, before the hospice existed, needed the support Forget Me Not now provides, Sheila is all too aware of how vital that support is. “We’re inspired by what the hospice does, what it has achieved,” she says. “Doing this gives us great pleasure. We love being with customers, meeting people. And we get great satisfaction from knowing that what we do really does help the families Forget Me Not supports.”
Indeed it does. In fact, over the 5 years they’ve been running a tombola, Team Sheila has raised an incredible £32,399.80! Precisely.
Inspired by the amazing Team Sheila? If you want to do your own thing and raise vital funds for Forget Me Not, there’s plenty of ideas right here to get you started!