A cherished memory of a special childhood gift is Bethany Hardy’s inspiration for volunteering with our retail team.
Bethany was only 12 when her grandmother Valerie, who was facing the final stage of her fight against cancer, became a St Luke’s patient.
“I remember me and my sister were only young – she would have been eight – and the St Luke’s chaplain gave us a bear each for us to bring with us when we visited,” Bethany remembers.
“I still have the bear, it’s very special to me because it reminds me of how welcoming everybody was.”
And it was that very special memory that inspired Bethany, who lives in Wadsley Bridge, to apply to volunteer when we opened our new Kilner Way Retail Park store last autumn.
“I’ve volunteered for a few charities but St Luke’s was top of my list because I wanted to give something back,” she says.
“I live locally so when I saw they were opening at Kilner Way I took the chance and applied to volunteer.”
Bethany completes two four-hour sessions every week at the shop, taking on a variety of tasks, including everything sorting stock to being on the till and talking to customers.
“I like meeting new people and keeping myself busy so this is perfect for me,” she says.
“I enjoy seeing new faces coming through and having the chance to talk to them, it’s a good way to give back to the community and raise money for a really good cause – and it’s a lot of fun!”
Bethany is one of the 800 St Luke’s volunteers being celebrated as part of our Be Part of Something Big campaign, which runs throughout May and reaches its climax at the beginning of June, which is national Volunteers’ Week.
The aim is to highlight all our volunteer opportunities and encourage people to book a taster session available at our shops and at our busy Donation Centre.
For further information contact the St Luke’s Volunteer Team click here