We have enjoyed a summer volunteer boost thanks to national campaign the Big Help Out.
The Big Help Out used the Coronation of King Charles III as the starting point of a project to encourage people to support their local communities over the weekend of national celebration in May.
We decided to go one step further and create a full month-long event, going all the way through to June 8, also covering National Volunteering Week.
And by the time the campaign came to its climax, a new generation of volunteers were set to give their time to supporting our services.
With flexible shifts available, from just one-hour sessions and upwards to fit around work, family life and other commitments, we have opportunities to suit most people’s busy lifestyles.
During the month, we had 12 corporate groups - including Lloyds, Masonite, Aviva, Irwin Mitchell, Home Office, Maximus, Halifax and 200 Degrees - take part in donation processing sessions for our shops.
That was a total 78 people in total sorting items which equated to £53,094 worth of items for sale either through the shops or via our eBay channel.
Three individuals signed up to sessions at the Crookes and Crystal Peaks shops, donating nine hours between them.
And two existing volunteers brought friends to the Crystal shop, giving a total of six hours.
A further four volunteers signed up via Big Help Out to assist at a Sheffield United Bucket Collection and there was also a new volunteer for our annual Golf Day.
Altogether it amounted to 570 hours of support throughout the month – with more enthusiastic volunteering to come.
“We had various ways people can get involved across the month, whether they signed up to volunteer at one of our events, as a corporate group, or at one of our 14 shops across the city,” said our Volunteer Coordinator Leah Smith.
“At any one time in the year we have more than 700 people signed up to support St Luke’s but at this very special time of national celebration we knew there were many other people who could give us some of their time.
“It didn’t have to be a massive commitment but the time they gave did make a massive difference to the lives of our patients and their families.”
To find out more about St Luke’s volunteer visit Volunteer