“Volunteer Voices is a great place for their voice to be heard.”
Volunteer Colin Goodwin explains the benefits of Volunteer Voices.
With a team of more than 1200 volunteers, St Christopher’s has always understood the value of listening to its indispensable workforce.
And, in the last year, the hospice has taken a step further in its commitment to engage with and respond to the ideas and concerns of the men and women who perform dozens of different and equally invaluable roles.
Volunteer Voices has for a number of years been a quarterly forum where 10-12 representatives of the different volunteering roles meet with members of the St Christopher’s senior management team and the volunteering department.
Earlier this year, the volunteers’ management team offered volunteers the chance to take control of the group.
Colin Goodwin, a retired chartered surveyor from Orpington, put his hat in the ring and has chaired the first two meetings of Volunteer Voices in its new guise.
“It’s never been just a listening shop, where the management tell us what’s going on and what to do, but we are definitely now more in control and dictate the agenda for the meetings.
“I’d chaired plenty of meetings in my working life and as a scout leader and thought I had the experience and felt comfortable pulling together the consensus of views.”
One tangible new initiative introduced under the new format of Volunteer Voices will be seen during this year’s Volunteers Week, as Colin explains.
“We discussed Volunteers Week and asked people what they would like so we could shape activities on the basis of their ideas. Rather than spending lots of money on events and activities we recommended that having people visit the shops to say thank you to the volunteers would be the most valuable thing we could do.”
Being retired, Colin is pleased to have left the burden of work admin behind, and he’s delighted to say that the St Christopher’s Volunteering department take the strain when it comes to sending out agendas and writing up meeting minutes.
Colin hopes that, particularly with the new format, more volunteers will step forward and join Volunteer Voices to have their say. He’s also a great advocate for volunteering at St Christopher’s.
“I can honestly say that St Christopher’s is a very open and responsive organisation and I’d love more people to get involved so we can truly be the voice of the volunteer.
“I’d like people to see the diverse range of opportunities and emphasise what a friendly and accommodating place St Christopher’s is. Whether you want to work with patients, or in the shops or fundraising. I know people who have tried lots of different roles and you feel appreciated whatever you do.”
Want to know more about volunteering?
If you’d like find out more about volunteering with St Christopher’s, whether in one of our shops or in a variety of other roles, find out more here.
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St Christopher’s Celebrates more than 1200 Volunteers donating 269,776 hours of support a year
St Christopher’s Hospice is proud to join the celebrations during Volunteers Week 2026 which marks a nationwide celebration of the remarkable contribution volunteers make to communities across the UK, from 1 –7 June.
