As we come to the close of #VolunteerWeek we would like to say a huge thank you to all of our amazing volunteers. Every day of the year we are thankful and humbled by our volunteer’s commitment to give up their time to help those less fortunate than themselves. No task is too great for them and the impact they have on our friends is priceless and life changing. This was made even more obvious to us during this COVID19 crisis and lockdown. Our volunteers have always put our friends first and their compassion and thoughtfulness to support our work in any capacity they could has been inspiring. 

Our drop in session leader Abi had this to say; 

‘Our volunteers are an integral part of our team; everyone has been great throughout the COVID-19 crisis. They have adapted to our new normal and have not once complained even when we ask them to make 300 sandwiches!! The fact that they have given up their spare time to help those less fortunate during a very uncertain period shows their dedication and kindness.’

*taken before the lockdown*

Due to the changes in our services during this crisis and social distancing rules we have had far too many offers for volunteering than we needed this has been bitter sweet as we know so many of our volunteers really want to help us. However, we look forward to the coming weeks as we re-open and more of our volunteers can come in so we can once again work together to change the lives of people experiencing homelessness.

*taken before the lockdown*

During this time of lockdown we’ve been conscious of the valuable relationship we have with our volunteers; under normal conditions we have around 100 volunteers. We have of course had to dramatically change our way of working so zoom calls and get together’s online help to keep us connected because we’ve missed meeting together. Our volunteers keep in touch with what we are doing and are also acutely aware of how this crisis has affected us financially due to the cancellation of so many big fundraising events and loss of corporate support as businesses went into lockdown.

Will one of our volunteers is aiming to raise £5,000 to help support our work he’s already at £1,600 taking part in some absolutely crazy challenges including dressing up and living as a dog for 2 days and not using his hands for 3 days! culminating in a mock Mount Kilimanjaro Climb to reach his goal be prepared this article will make you laugh "My brother and sister took me for a walk, they nearly died with embarrassment at the reaction of others". You can encourage Will in his challenges by visiting his page.