Susan Amphlett is one of our amazing volunteers who gives up her time to take on not one, but TWO different roles to support St Richard’s!
Sue gets hands-on with donated items when she works in our collection warehouse in Leigh Sinton sorting items ready to buy at our shops throughout Worcestershire.
She also turns admin guru for the Education Team and HR at the hospice in Wildwood Drive once a week.
“I worked for 22 years in banking and ten years in compliance roles with an energy company before being made redundant,” said Sue.
“I took a career break and helped older family members with more physically demanding tasks but I’d always enjoyed the few volunteering days I had done through work. After clearing out my mother-in-law’s loft I took a car full of donations to the warehouse and thought I would like to volunteer there and that started it all!
“I absolutely love working in the warehouse – it’s so different to the office work I used to do and the staff and volunteers are all so friendly. Where else would you find such a cross-section of people and ages to work alongside?
“In the warehouse, I really do whatever they want me to do – primarily I tag gift aid items, hang clothes, help sort through items that come from shops, and sort CDs and DVDs.
“I volunteer at the warehouse two half days a week and really what motivates me is going into a massive pile of work and challenging myself to get it all cleared. I can see I’m making a difference and the warehouse staff call me ‘speedy Sue’ as I get a lot done, which I take as a compliment. It’s also really interesting. You see so many different items and it’s not just great for the charity but the more clothes we sell the better it is for the environment. It has opened my eyes to how good the quality is of some of the clothes donated.
“The warehouse team is very flexible and they take into account which parts you would like to do clothes, books, bric-a-brac etc, but I’m one of those people who is happy to do anything.
“In the hospice itself, I do admin and data input for the Education Dept and HR. Booking people on courses, sending out course invites, updating records, printing course packs and for HR work includes data inputting such as volunteering hours, filing and scanning.
“I had been volunteering for a while in the warehouse before I asked if I could volunteer in the hospice doing admin as I hope to do some admin work in the future and it gives me good, recent experience on my CV. Like the warehouse, when I’m doing the data input or jobs I’m allocated, my motivation is to get as much done as possible to help out. The hospice at Wildwood Drive is a very different environment but great staff and very enjoyable. I do one day a week.”
“Doing two very different types of volunteering is great – the warehouse is definitely more physical which I like, and the hospice more computer-based but variety is the spice of life!
“When I go back to working part-time I intend to continue some of my volunteering.
“St Richard’s is important to me as my father-in-law and a good friend were cared for by the hospice team when they passed away. I saw first-hand how amazing the staff are and any little bit I can do to help support that I will.
“I would certainly recommend others to volunteer. It’s great for social contact, regaining or gaining the challenge of work for those who haven’t worked or have taken a break or have retired and miss it, and gaining good experience for your CV. But most of all it’s supporting a brilliant charity.”
Find out about volunteering and current roles available on our website https://www.strichards.org.uk/support-us/volunteering/volunteering-vacancies/ or call Claire Watkins or Matt Tudor in the Volunteer Team, on 01905 763963 or email