Sophie Jones, 45, is the New Goods Coordinator in the retail team, having started her St Helena Hospice career as a volunteer in the Great Clacton shop sorting donations and working on the till.

After volunteering for around 10 months, Sophie successfully applied for an assistant manager position at the shop, and after another 18 months, progressed to her first shop manager role. Sophie developed her skills while volunteering and gained confidence in dealing with day to day interactions with customers.

I've dealt with volunteers who've come in absolutely terrified and they go, I won't do the till, I won't face the customers, and I'm like, that's absolutely fine, it’s a very flexible environment and I think it's the best place to pick up soft skills. I was a nervous wreck when I first started out facing the public, I could never ever speak up and it's taken me a while, but I'm more comfortable now talking to people. I will strike up a conversation at a bus stop, before I came here absolutely not, the thought of it would get me in a cold sweat. So volunteering in a charity shop is a really good place to pick up soft skills, it gives you an opportunity to get out of your head and take care of somebody else.

I think the biggest misconception people have is, when you manage volunteers, it's the same way you manage paid staff, which it is not at all. With volunteers, you're asking them really, really nicely to do things and you have to be mentally ready for volunteers pulling out at the very last minute, and that's okay. 

For me it's priceless in volunteering, because people need you, they will be patient with you and they will move with you.