Latifa Hindle admits that she originally became one of our retail volunteers as a break from the domestic routine.
“I’d just had my second child and fancied doing something that would take me out for just a few hours,” she says.
“I wanted experience and something that would give me the break from being a stay-at-home mum, a little time to be me.
“My brother-in-law was already a St Luke’s volunteer and said how lovely everybody was so I decided to give it a go and I really enjoyed it.”
Latifa spent three years as a volunteer at our Firth Park shop and says she loved every minute of the experience.
“I enjoyed talking to different people, helping people and I really enjoyed filling up the shop floor with stock and seeing it sell – it’s a nice feeling knowing that your effort is helping to make a difference,” she recalls.
As her experience grew, though, Latifa found herself mentoring other volunteers so perhaps it was inevitable that when a full time retail post came up at our City Road shop, Latifa was encouraged to apply.
That led to seven years as the shop’s deputy manager – including the difficult months of the Covid pandemic and time out for a third child.
And then at last a chance became available for Latifa to be given a shop of her own to manage and the story came full circle – with a return to where it all began, at Firth Park.
“I loved City Road and I do still miss it now because it had its own special atmosphere but Firth Park is closer to home and I know the shop so well,” she says.
“It was a difficult choice to make because I’d always told everybody I’d never leave City Road but in the end it was the right choice for me and I do love being in Firth Park to be honest.
“There’s a really diverse community here and I love that every day is so different – you can walk downstairs and onto the shop floor and you might be talking to six different nationalities.”
Looking back, Latifa says that her life has been transformed by that original decision to spend just a few hours volunteering and that’s why she now encourages other people to follow her lead.
“I always say you should give it a go because it’s a great opportunity to meet new people, it’s fun – and there’s always tea and biscuits, which is a nice little add on!” she says.
“Before I did my volunteering I’d never had any retail experience or customer service and to be honest, I didn’t know how charity shops work – I didn’t realise how much hard work goes into it.
“When you’re a customer you don’t appreciate how many people will have looked at every item before it gets onto the shop floor.
“But once you’re involved, it’s a nice feeling, knowing that you’ve done something good, you understand how the money is going to help someone at the hardest time of their life – and that’s what I’m doing it for.”
To find out about all St Luke’s volunteering opportunities click here