Tracey’s volunteering story

Tracey is part of the team at our shop in Hatfield. She started volunteering to boost her confidence and hasn’t looked back since.

“My advice to anyone thinking of volunteering would be to try it. There’s so many different things you can do. You’re never useless.”

“At the Willow shop in Hatfield, we laugh a lot. On the days I’m here, I’ll come in and have a cup of tea. Then I’ll get onto whatever needs doing, whether that’s processing clothes, sorting bric-a-brac, putting the hoover round or something else. I’m here most days but no two are the same.

My favourite thing about volunteering is getting to meet lots of people – young, old, staff, volunteers, customers. You meet people from all walks of life. You also never know what you’re going to get donated. It can be fun trying to work out what some of the items are!

I live in Hatfield and have been here for about 20 years. I used to volunteer at Scope which was next door to Willow. When that closed, I moved here along with the manager, Jackie. We’ve worked together for about 18 months now.

When I initially decided to volunteer it was to boost my confidence. I had lost my job and that really affected me. I didn’t go out and lost my sense of self. I met Jackie and her daughter at Scope and started shortly afterwards. It felt like a step in the right direction and I haven’t looked back.

My advice to anyone thinking of volunteering would be to try it. There’s no commitment. If you’re good at one thing, they’ll accommodate that. For example, I don’t like using the till, but there’s so many different things you can do. You’re never useless.”

Thinking of giving your time to help out at Willow? Visit our webpage for more on volunteering opportunities.