Retail Support Volunteer Officer – Sarah’s story

Where my Dorothy House journey began

I started as a full time Deputy Manager at Bath Furniture and really enjoyed it there. When I started, we had three volunteers and we've now got 32. Part of my remit was to try and get more volunteers so that was successful! I really enjoy meeting the volunteers, talking to them, getting them involved and on boarding them. Volunteer Services had a bit of a rejig and in February and there was a role for a Retail Support Officer for Volunteer Services. So I went for that, and as it was three days a week I also continued to do two days in Bath furniture. I’m pleased to say that now I'm now doing the volunteer services full time.

There are lots of training opportunities available. I've done a few communication ones and difficult conversation training ones as well. There’s a lot of choice but it's just then fitting them in with everything else!

A day in the life of a Retail Support Officer for Volunteer Services

My now is very varied. This morning I was in an assembly at King Edward’s School in Bath, talking to probably 120 sixth formers, so that was quite interesting. And then I might be going off and talking to some volunteers in the shop, giving out leaflets in Tesco or shopping centres, helping volunteers on the new Assemble system, or creating content for the volunteer newsletter.

I really enjoy the variety of my job, and talking and communicating with volunteers. It's really nice when you see volunteers that you've taken on and they've really made a difference, and that they’re enjoying their role. They are just incredibly amazing people, because they are the life of the stores. I could see that from the Bath store, where we’ve gone from two to 30 volunteers, it's just it's just transformed the store. So they really do make the store what it is.

A rewarding place to work

Dorothy House is a great organization. You receive so much support. The people are lovely, everyone's very friendly and there are opportunities to progress. But ultimately it's a great cause as well. You understand the mission Dorothy House is aiming to achieve and what they’re helping people through. So it's a win-win for me.