Sheena & Tracey’s story
Tracey and Sheena both volunteer at the St Ann’s Hospice Distribution Centre, sorting items for our charity shops.
Tracey and Sheena both volunteer at the St Ann’s Hospice Distribution Centre in Reddish, which serves our network of charity shops as well as our online sales platforms. They help to sort through the mountain of donated clothes, homewares and other items so that St Ann’s can raise as much as possible from the donations.
They have guidance on what to keep, what should be sent for recycling, and what should be sent where to make sure that all our charity shops are well stocked with quality items.
Tracey has been a volunteer at the Distribution Centre for just over a year and helps for up to two and a half days a week.
At the time I signed up I was suffering from chronic fatigue and needed purpose. I wanted to give something back to the community as I’ve lived in Reddish for a while. I do sorting and am also involved in the monthly clearance sales and setting them up. I find the sorting therapeutic. And you’re learning about people’s lives. One of the donations we had was thousands of bells; we put some on display and a woman bought them for table displays for her wedding. Tracey, Volunteer
Sheena has volunteered for St Ann’s since she retired in 2019, at first on the ward at the Heald Green hospice before joining the team at the Heald Green shop for a day a week, then beginning to help at the Distribution Centre for a day a week as well!
My favourite thing about volunteering is seeing the variety of items people donate – it's really interesting. As well as sorting you still see the public as well, it’s a nice variety. The monthly clearance sales are always great – especially the Christmas sale and the fashion sales. We had a lad come to one recently who bought a suit for his first job. We’ve had lots of people on a budget come in for things they need, including families of Ukrainian refugees. I would recommend volunteering at St Ann’s to anyone, and I have done! My husband is going to start at the shop as well. Sheena, Volunteer
