Charities appeal for shop volunteers in run up to Christmas
Melanie May | 19 November 2021 | News
Charities are appealing for volunteers to help in their shops in the run up to Christmas after seeing numbers drop during the pandemic.
British Heart Foundation (main image) has lost more than 2,500 from its shops and this month launches its Operation Elf recruitment drive, encouraging the public to give any time they can in the run up to Christmas and support their local BHF shop.
December is one of the busiest times of year for the charity’s 712 nationwide shops, but some may be forced to reduce opening hours if they cannot recruit more volunteers ahead of the festive season.
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Retail Volunteering Operations Manager Sarah Boardman said:
“Volunteers are our life-blood. We simply cannot operate our shops and stores without their generous support. Currently, our volunteering hours are down 20% compared to pre-Covid and we have on average 2,500 fewer volunteers each week supporting our shops and stores. This Christmas we’re asking the British public to donate to us the gift of time and give whatever hours they can.”
Volunteers can get involved in tasks such as telephone and logistical administration, operating tills, merchandising on the shop floor and answering customer queries. The charity also offers online roles for those keen on honing their tech skills, by helping to research, photograph and list items for BHF’s online shops.
Behind the scenes volunteers can take on warehouse assistant or specialist roles which can provide transferrable skills that are perfect for future job applications. There are also opportunities to become volunteer stock collection drivers, stock generators and volunteer recruiters who get out in the local area.
The Helen Rollason Cancer Charity shop in Witham, Essex is also searching for volunteers. It has only been able to open for a limited number of hours because it does not have enough volunteers to run it.
In total it has five charity shops across Essex and Hertfordshire in Witham, Wickford, Sawbridgeworth and two in Burnham on Crouch.
Alison Matthews, the charity’s Head of Retail, said:
“We have been struggling to recruit volunteers for our Witham shop for a while now. These shops are the absolute lifeblood of the charity and we know there’s still a desire for the shops because of how busy they are and the amount of donations we receive from the public.”
Last month, Rowcroft Hospice in Devon also put out an appeal for shop volunteers. Its 15 shops and cafes in the Torbay and the South Devon region rely heavily on its teams of dedicated volunteers but it has also been struggling to find enough people to help.
Back in July, the Charity Retail Association reported that the number of people volunteering had dropped by 45,000 since the beginning of the pandemic. It estimated that volunteer numbers were down by 20% compared with 2019, leaving some shops struggling to deal with rising donations and sales as Covid-19 restrictions lifted.
A survey for BHF last year found that almost a third of people thought charity shops more important than ever following the Covid-19 crisis, with almost three quarters of them saying charity shops provide affordable items to those with financial concerns, while 68% because they raise funds for charitable causes at a time many are seeing high demand.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.