Volunteers are the unsung heroes of any charity. With their generosity in donating their time, charities get a wealth of expertise they simply otherwise would not be able to afford, as well as feet on the ground to support all of their fundraising initiatives.

Did you know that most of the staff at CRUK’s hundreds of charity shops around the UK are volunteers?

With more than 550 shops nationwide, that’s a lot of volunteers, and a lot of hours being selflessly given up. That’s shop assistants, bookkeepers, drivers and stock preparation assistants. They cover everything from staffing the counters, merchandising the store, sorting through donated goods and maintaining the accounts. Next time you visit one of Cancer Research’s stores, take a look around and imagine the work it takes to keep one of those branches running, and then give the staff a pat on the back. They deserve it!

What about those well-known Cancer Research events like Race for Life, Shine and Relay for Life?

Again, these events are hugely dependent on volunteers, and without them helping out with everything from event organisation to cheering participants along the routes and handing out refreshments, these events simply would not be able to take place. One of Shine’s volunteers said of his experience at the event “although I felt tired at the end of the night, I felt like I’d truly helped and was appreciated for my efforts; that was a great feeling”. Some of the volunteers love that feeling so much that they’ve been supporting events for many years and wouldn’t give it up for anything! They’ve done everything from putting up barriers to marshaling and cleaning up afterwards. We salute them.

Volunteers can offer their time according to their capacity and many have full-time careers yet still manage to commit to a few days or hours a week to Cancer Research. Sometimes this is in the lead up to a specific event, or they give their time as needed on an ongoing basis. To find out more about volunteer roles around the country like event organizing, marketing and promotions, logistics and lots more, visit this page . In addition to supporting a worthy charity, you’ll be gaining some great experience that’s going to be a confidence booster and look great on your CV.

Three times a year, CRUK hosts in the region of 50 interns who volunteer for 3-months to work on specific projects. What a great way to gain work experience to prepare young people to join the workforce.

There is also an incredible network of people that volunteer to support work at CRUK’s offices around the country, some of whom work full time for Cancer Research whilst on a sabbatical from their career or during their holidays. They work at the office or sometimes from home helping out with IT, marketing, HR, finance and even strategy to help CR UK remain the success it is. They will tell you that the work is incredibly rewarding and that despite giving their time for free they are richer for the experience.

Who are these amazing volunteers?

Well, they’re all sorts of people, covering a wide age range and from every walk of life. There are retirees and teenagers, people who can’t work full time due to their own health issues, and people who somehow just find the time in very busy lives filled with careers and family to squeeze in some charity work.

Why do they do it? 

They do it because it’s rewarding, it makes them feel a part of something bigger. Most of all they do it because they want to make a difference. We put together this article to highlight just how crucial volunteers are not just to Cancer Research, but to charities the world over, and to offer our heartfelt thanks to everyone who makes our work possible. If you’d like to find out more, or if you feel inspired to get involved, visit the CRUK website.

Image courtesy of jacsonquerubin