Volunteering at St Gemma’s: Good for the Soul

At St Gemma’s we are fortunate to reguarly welcome corporate volunteers who give their time through volunteering days provided by their employers. Tina Gelder, Producer at ITV Calendar News, recently spent two days with our team and she shares her experience:

“I have personal experience of the amazing care that hospices provide, and the company I work for – ITV – offers employees volunteering days, so St Gemma’s was a natural choice.

Day one brought me to the Hospice itself, spending time with the Marketing and Communications team. Seeing Nicki, Nat and Emily in action was an eye-opener. They’re responsible for writing and putting together everything from the public and internal newsletters to information leaflets for patients.

And of course in this digital age, websites and social media can reach a massive audience. This small, but effective, band of three women go all out to spread the word, in order to support fundraising and raise awareness of campaigns. They are passionate about working for a compassionate organisation.

They are masters of multi-tasking – not in the spotlight, but a crucial cog in the wheel!

Day two was in the Hospice shop at Meanwood, with Store Manager Houda and team member Rick showing me the ropes. I helped to arrange displays, tidy the shop floor and put out rails of clothes. And for me, speaking to the customers and those bringing in donations was so rewarding. As a journalist I’m naturally curious (nosey!) and I had some great conversations with people. I absolutely loved it!

So if you’re interested in trying your hand at volunteering, have a word with your employers – you can do it as an individual or corporate team-building perhaps.

And the best part? I came away feeling that I’d done something worthwhile, something that had made a difference – turns out that volunteering at the heart of Leeds that is St Gemma’s is good for the soul.”

Thank you to Tina for generously giving your time and expertise to St Gemma’s! If you’d like to find out more about spending your workplace volunteering days with us, email Corporate.Volunteering@st-gemma.co.uk to get started.