You’d think they’d been friends their whole lives but Maureen and Rita didn’t actually meet until they both started volunteering for St Cuthbert’s Hospice 15 years ago!
Maureen had been visiting a friend who was receiving Hospice care.
I had retired from my career as a neonatal nurse and wanted to do something useful with my spare time. During my visits I’d noticed that the Hospice was setting up a new coffee shop and thought that would be a perfect opportunity to get involved with volunteering.
Around the same time, Rita had picked up a leaflet advertising the Midnight Walk for the Hospice and decided to take part.
I loved the idea of taking part in fundraising for the Hospice. Although I had no personal connection, I was aware of the great work the Hospice does for members of our community. After this event, I decided that I wanted to do more for St Cuthbert’s so applied to become a volunteer.
I spent my first week at the coffee shop where I met Maureen and the rest is history.
We’ve been here ever since and always help out with Hospice events together. It’s great to have a catch up with a good friend and help the Hospice at the same time. We get to meet new people and spend time chatting to our Living Well Centre guests while they enjoy tea and a scone in the coffee shop.
If you have any spare time we’d definitely recommend joining our team. I also volunteer at the Houghton-le-Spring shop a few hours a week so feel free to pop in and have a chat about charity shop volunteering.
We’d be lost without Maureen, Rita and the rest of our fab team of volunteers. We’re always looking to grow this amazing team so if you’d like to find out more, please click here.
