IT’S Volunteers’ Week. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on national healthcare charity, Sue Ryder, has been immense.

Not only did it have a financial impact on the charity but it also meant that our incredible volunteers were unable to support us because of the national lockdowns.

We are extremely excited that we have been able to welcome our retail volunteers back since the roadmap allowed non-essential shops to reopen.

Sue Ryder has over 5,500 dedicated retail volunteers across the country and since our shops reopened, we are welcoming 125 new volunteers to Sue Ryder every week.

Our volunteers have given over 200,000 hours to us since the reopening of shops in April 2021 and this week, we want to recognise the fantastic contribution they make to Sue Ryder.

In fact, our hospices are only part funded by the government, with just 30 per cent of their costs covered on average, so our team of retail volunteers, most of whom work tirelessly in our Sue Ryder shops across the UK, play a critical part in helping the charity raise the rest of the funds needed.

You can see why our volunteers are an invaluable part of the Sue Ryder organisation; they enable us to continue providing the expert and compassionate palliative, neurological and bereavement support that we are so well known for.

Sue Ryder is committed to making volunteering with us a rewarding, inclusive and empowering experience for everybody. We’d like to appeal to any of your readers who would like to find out more about joining our team.

However much time you have, we’d love you to hear from you.

To make a difference as a Sue Ryder volunteer, please visit sueryder.org/volunteer for more information.

STUART MITCHELL

Volunteer and community manager at Sue Ryder