Poppy's Story

Poppy, aged 16, signed up to volunteer in our Gerrards Cross store over the summer holidays. She now volunteers her time every Sunday to help out. Here is what Poppy had to say about her experience of volunteering in one of our shops.

"I love knowing that the work I am doing is going to help people; it makes every task seem very worthwhile. I also enjoy going through all the processes of preparing something to go out into the shop – it is so interesting to see and take part in what goes on behind the scenes! 

"I never knew how many things there were to do in a charity shop! There are lots of processes such as sorting, hanging, steaming, pricing and putting out items into the shop that I had never really thought about. I also really like interacting with the customers.

"I have learnt that a lot of hard work often goes unnoticed. Before I volunteered at Thames Hospice and I used to walk into charity shops as a customer, I would take for granted all the work that was put in to make the shop look nice, welcoming and organised; however, now I won’t ever do that again as I am aware of how charity shops function and all the effort that is put in to keep things running smoothly."