Rennie Grove Hospice Care is celebrating Volunteers Week – June 1 to 7 - by spreading the message that “volunteering is for all”.

Herts Advertiser: Rennie Grove volunteer gardeners.Rennie Grove volunteer gardeners. (Image: Archant)

The charity relies on its 1,500 strong army of Queen’s Award-winning volunteers to carry out essential support roles and simply could not care for so many patients without them.

From extreme weather drivers and eBay listers to shop assistants and gardeners, Rennie Grove has a plethora of roles on offer whether you want to utilise existing skills or learn new ones.

And most importantly Rennie Grove offers “bite-sized” volunteering opportunities to suit the time you have available.

Susan Lewis, volunteering development advisor at Rennie Grove explained: “The face of volunteering is changing with more people offering one-off chunks of time that they can fit around other commitments such as paid employment, study or childcare. Some employers also give their staff time off during the working week to volunteer for local charities like ours. At Rennie Grove we welcome this type of “micro volunteering” because it is perfect for those who want to volunteer but who are time poor.

“Some examples of what people can do to support us include taking part in a street collection, holding an event, sponsoring a fundraiser online or buying an item from our eBay shop.

“We are also inviting people to “give a shop a shift” which means a one-off day or half-day volunteering shift in one of our 27 charity shops. Two of our recent ‘one-off’ volunteers found that they enjoyed the experience so much they signed up to do it more often,” added Susan.

As part of his event and festivals management university course, Ross Brace is giving 100 hours voluntary service to Rennie Grove’s community fundraising team. “I’m really surprised at the different types of events and activities that I’ve been involved in already,” said Ross.

“So far I’ve done a street collection and have helped out at a celebrity sports dinner, a quiz night and at a village fair. None of these are things that I would do in my everyday life and I’ve really enjoyed myself. I’m also helping the team to organise and promote future events and would recommend volunteering with Rennie Grove,” he added.

There are many rewards to volunteering and Rennie Grove is keen to hear from people who would like to find out more – no matter how much time they have to spare - so please get in touch on 01727 731000 or volunteer@renniegrove.org.