Hospice thanks amazing retail volunteers

Birmingham Hospice recently hosted an evening celebrating the vital contribution of its retail volunteers at its Harborne superstore, Reloved Brum.

Volunteers play a vital role across the charity’s 20 stores, serving customers and sorting stock, as well as bringing their own knowledge and expertise to product areas like fashion or books, or specific tasks such as window design or social media.

Last year, the hospice’s volunteers gave an astonishing 54,000 hours of their time – the equivalent of over £500,000 in potential salary costs.

Simon Fuller, CEO of Birmingham Hospice, said at the event:

“Volunteering is the foundation of our existence as a hospice. The impact of your individual and collective time is phenomenal and we’re extremely grateful.”

There were awards for long service – some over 25 years – and others who have gone above and beyond in their support of the hospice.

Two of the longest-serving volunteers were Joyce Toon and Marianne Jones from the Cotteridge store, who have been with the hospice for 25 and 28 years, respectively.

Joyce said: “I used to do door-to-door collections for St Mary’s Hospice, and worked in a couple of other shops before I came to Cotteridge. It’s good to do something local, and know that you’re supporting such a good cause.

“We have our regulars who often pop in – even if they don’t buy something that day, they’ll stop for a chat – there’s a real sense of community around the shop.”

The charity’s Dorridge store has one of the biggest teams of volunteers, with around 25 overall, and it even has a waiting list of people wanting to join the team, several of whom received long service awards on the night.

Among them was Larraine Adams, who said: “It is a great place to volunteer, a great charity, and as I’ve had personal support from Birmingham Hospice in the past, it is very rewarding to help out – I love it.”

Her colleague Denise Malone added: “The people at Dorridge are absolutely brilliant, from the designs of our windows to the ambience of the shop, it’s second to none, and we’re all genuinely one big family.”

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Birmingham Hospice is the new name for Birmingham St Mary’s Hospice and John Taylor Hospice.
In 2021, the two hospices merged to form The Hospice Charity Partnership providing expert palliative and end of life care for people and their families living with life-limiting illnesses. Offering personalised support at home, in local communities or at the hospices, we help people across Birmingham to live well with their illness, right up to the very end of life.
The charity must be referred to as Birmingham Hospice only.
The hospice offers a range of services in people’s homes, in the community and at both its Selly Park and Erdington sites.
The hospice support families and carers too, throughout a person’s illness and, after their loved one has died, with bereavement support for as long as necessary.
Living Well Centre services are also provided, which help people to live well with their illness.
Birmingham Hospice is committed to training health and social care professionals, GPs, nurses and medical students in palliative care and end of life, via seminars, courses and placements.
All of our services are free of charge to everyone that uses them, including patients, family members, carers and loved ones.
It costs over £16 million to deliver Birmingham Hospice’s services each year; 60% of this comes from the NHS, and the remaining 40% has to be raised through voluntary donations.

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