Celebrating our volunteers
Volunteers Week 2025
Volunteers Week (2-8 June) gives us the perfect opportunity to tell you about three of the Trust’s wonderful volunteers – Bronwen, Carole and Lucy.
A Vital Role
Carole joined the Trust in 2016, after her daughter Amy, our Graphic Designer, started working for us full time. She says: “Amy saw how I might be able to help the Trust so, having retired and with some time to spare, I decided to offer myself as a volunteer.”
The Trust sends out hundreds of mental health resources each week and Carole plays a key part in this. She tells us: “My role within the Trust involves sending requested resources to customers. Tasks include printing order sheets, collecting the requested items, packaging them for postal delivery, franking the parcels and completing the final details on the database.”
Sharing the load
In 2024 we sent out more than 130,000 items in total. It’s too big a job for one person, and another volunteer, Bronwen, is also involved. Bronwen has a longstanding relationship with the Trust, as she explains:
“I had always intended to undertake voluntary work on my retirement, where my previous knowledge and skills could be put to best use and for an organisation whose work and impact was extremely important to me.
“Having considered a few organisations, and having previously worked for the Charlie Waller Trust, I decided their work was a cause I wanted to continue to support.”
Communications support
Another office volunteer, Lucy, provides invaluable help to our communications team. She joined us in 2017, motivated, she says, by a desire to do something more constructive with her time:
“I had been working within communications for the best part of 20 years on a freelance basis, predominantly in the voluntary sector. With some significant and traumatic events happening in my personal life, I needed a change.
“My friend, Tracey Gurr, now the Trust’s Content and Stories Manager, needed support in her role, and we agreed that I would come in one day a week on a voluntary basis, helping with writing for various publications, including the newsletter, and proofreading.
“I was then given responsibility for working with the CEO on her monthly update for staff and trainers, which was a great way to gain a broader understanding of the work of the Trust.”
Affinity with the cause
Both Lucy and Bronwen felt close to our cause because of tragic events amongst their own friends and family. Bronwen says of her current work:
“My previous background in working for the Trust is invaluable, as is my experience of mental health issues within the family, and losing a very close friend to suicide.”
Lucy concurs: “With lived experience of mental health difficulties within my own family and the loss of a family member to suicide, I felt a great affinity with the aims and ambitions of the Trust. I love the written word but how much better that I could use it for a cause that I truly cared about, especially coming in as a volunteer!”
A warm welcome
Carole, Bronwen and Lucy all agree that the Trust is a great place to volunteer. Carole says the best part is “feeling part of the team and being frequently told that we are appreciated!” and Bronwen adds: “It is a great experience working with a dynamic, hardworking team of professionals who are passionate about their work and contributing towards the Trust's work to provide the support, skills and resilience to young people to be mentally well for life.”
Lucy feels the same way: “From the beginning, everyone at the Trust has been incredibly welcoming. As a volunteer, I have always felt included and part of the team.
“As the Trust has grown, my involvement has too. I have worked on some major projects, interviewed many people connected with the Trust for case studies, and done my best to make myself indispensable!”
All three of our office volunteers get involved outside the office too. Bronwen and Carole are both great bakers and have contributed delicious cakes for our fundraising events. Lucy is a Friend of Charlie Waller (making a regular donation) and also took part in our first Walk for Wellbeing in 2023, a 45km walk through London’s royal parks. She says: “That was tough going but there was the same sense of camaraderie and purpose as there seems to be whatever you do for the Trust.”
