I’m Jean, I live on the outskirts of Hull, and I’ve always been in this area – a Hull-lass you might call me! I’ve been volunteering at Emmaus Hull & East Riding since 2023 and I love coming here – it’s one of the highlights of my week.
Before starting as a volunteer, I heard something on the radio about an appeal looking for volunteers to help at the Emmaus shop. I thought I could do that as I’ve got a bit of an interest in people who’ve not had an easy life. I went into the Emmaus Emporium charity shop on Whitefriargate and the lady who interviewed me took me under her wing and I’ve been here ever since.
When I started, I was told about the history of the charity, how The Orchard works and the companions – the people supported by Emmaus who have been homeless. I visited the other shops and the community home which I found quite interesting. I’m not very mobile now so I get the bus to the Emporium, do my bit for a few hours and get myself home again. I love people and feel like I’m the old grannie at Emmaus. My youngest son always knows if I haven’t spoken to anybody all day. The minute I get out with people I just light up and I feel that inside me, there’s something there that I want to pass on.
Using my experience to help people
I polish and dust all the furniture but that’s not my main job. Whilst volunteering, I chat to the customers and chat with the lads and ladies who live at Emmaus. In a way, I feel that’s part of my role – being here and chatting with people. I rearrange a bit of furniture if I’m not happy with it and sort through clothes rails and donations. Some of the jobs in the shop can be very mundane but I love the variety and the people I meet.
When I’m at Emmaus, I like to check who’s here and if they’re doing OK. New people join and I hope in a way I do a teeny-weeny little bit to help them on their journey. I’m not here to counsel them or anything like that, but my past work experience brings into focus certain things that I did before retiring. In those days we were called personnel, it’s human resources now. I worked in personnel at a big food factory, helping people in their roles. I’ve been retired for over 20 years now and it’s nice to bump into people who I used to work with and they’re friendly with me.
Giving people hope for the future
When someone donates items or shops at Emmaus, that support goes to a good purpose. It helps the companions look to the future and gives them hope for the future. It’s up to them whether they take it or not as sometimes, what they have gone through is too tough to put behind them.
For people thinking about volunteering, I think it depends on what they want and why they want to do it really – that needs to come first. I knew I needed to be with a charity that helps people who have had challenges in life. That’s where I wanted to be but not everybody would want that. I used to volunteer in another charity shop on the clothes and that was alright, but these are real people here.
The routine of coming to volunteer at Emmaus is really beneficial too. I hope to keep coming to Emmaus and that I’m appreciated. I really hope all the people supported by Emmaus do well in life. It is good to see the success stories and I so admire that they take the bull by the horns and go and get themselves out of here. But also, they must appreciate what help Emmaus was, whilst they were here.