“I’ve always felt welcomed at St Giles. Volunteers are seen as a very positive and inspirational addition to the team.”
For Diana Mowe, the feeling that volunteers are very much part of the culture of St Giles is one of the reasons why she still loves spending one day a week volunteering at the hospice – even after 13 years!
“I’ve always felt welcomed at St Giles,” she said. “Volunteers are seen as a very positive and inspirational addition to the team.”
Diana, aged 72, worked in the professional finance sector as a VAT consultant until she retired. Then, she said, “we bought an old house and were doing it up, but I started to feel I needed to do something else in addition to stripping wallpaper and painting!”
It was Diana’s husband who noticed that St Giles, a charity they had supported for many years through its lottery, had moved one of its offices close to their home and suggested she give them a call to see if they needed any help.
With her finance experience, Diana was ideally placed in the lottery office to provide support and advice.
She added: “I just loved it. Very quickly, people became my friends and even when the office moved further away from my home a few years later, I still kept on going. It’s part of my life now.”
Diana said she initially thought that she was giving something back after years in the commercial sector, but quickly realised that she was also getting personal satisfaction out of it. “It’s a win-win situation for all concerned,” she explained.
If you’ve been inspired by Diana’s story and would like to know more about volunteering at St Giles, you can book onto a volunteer open session here. Plus, you can reach the team on 01543 434546 or email volunteer@stgileshospice.com.