12 months ago
We spoke to volunteering manager, Celia Abbott, about her role ahead of the Big Help Out on 8th May. See how you can get involved too.
Could you start by introducing yourself and telling us about all the important work you do here to help people with life limiting illnesses?
Of course. I’m Celia Abbott and I’m the volunteering manager at Royal Trinity hospice. My role is to support the volunteering programme across our hospital and in our shops. So recruiting new volunteers and also supporting them to get the most out of their role while they’re with us. The Royal Trinity Hospice provides free end of life care for seven London boroughs; last year we offered free care to 2,500 Londoners, both here at the hospice and in their homes as well.
What would you say you enjoy most about working for such a compassionate organisation?
What I enjoy most about working for Trinity is knowing that the role I’m doing is helping to support and enable us to provide more care to people across London. It’s great knowing that I’m working for the oldest hospice in the UK as well and that the work that I’m doing is really making a difference.
How can the people of Clapham get involved?
So we have lots of opportunities for people to get involved as volunteers with Trinity. We have various different ways that people can help; from volunteering in (one of our 21) shops across London, but we also have opportunities available at the hospice. Helping in our fundraising team, helping in our cafe, helping drive our patients to outpatient sessions and then also helping with other things like admin and office support as well.
The Coronation is coming up. Can you tell us why that’s such an important time for Royal Trinity and a bit about what the Big Help Out is?
The big help out is a national campaign that runs in conjunction with the Coronation to commemorate the Kings many years of service across our local communities. The idea is that people in local areas have the opportunity to get involved on the 8th May, and throughout May as well, with volunteering projects in their local areas. If people want to get involved with The Big Help Out, they can have a look at our Trinity volunteer opportunities which are on The Big Help Out website (or also on The Big Help Out app). We have all of our volunteering opportunities listed on the Royal Trinity Hospice website as well, so people can have a look and apply for roles through there as well.
