Volunteers’ Week is an annual celebration of the contribution millions of people make across the UK through volunteering.
Volunteers’ Week 2022 starts today, 1 – 7 June 2022, and we’ll be celebrating HOME’s volunteers with a private party on Mon 6 June. In the meantime, we’ll be sharing individual volunteer stories across our social channels, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and you can also hear from our volunteers below.
Many of our volunteers joined us at the very beginning when HOME opened in 2015 and have helped to shape our volunteer programme. They give hundreds of hours of their time throughout the year to help HOME staff provide the highest quality experience for visitors and participants of HOME projects.
Hi, I’m Trish, a retired special needs teacher, and this is me doing one of the things I love most (apart from volunteering at HOME of course) – having a long walk on a stunning coastal path. Always happy with my hiking boots on.
One of my favourite shows at HOME was Hot Brown Honey a few years ago – so full of energy and sass!
(Jermaine pictured centre, seated at the table)
I am Jermaine, and outside volunteering at HOME I enjoy walking in the park and going to my weekly art group at the Zion Centre.
I Volunteer because I like Films and Theatre and it’s good to work with other people!
At HOME I enjoyed the recent Theatre show Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and lots of other plays before that!
Jermaine was one of the volunteers that created the decorations we had around the building to celebrate the ¡VIVA! 2022 Film Festival. Felicity, our Volunteer Programme Manager commented “Jermaine is one of our most dedicated and an all-round amazing volunteer, he is a talented artist, and recently had his work in the Manchester Open exhibition”
I’m Steve, I don’t work at the moment because I’m recovering from PTSD, though I am very creative with my time. I wrote a novel – which nearly got published – and am working on a short story collection together (which I may just publish myself, eventually).
I make my own art – mostly collages – which I sell online.
I really enjoyed the recent The House with Chicken Legs, it was so magical, I saw it twice, I hope it comes back at some point in the future.’
Steve is really talented and will be performing at the volunteer party.
Steve is a really talented artist, Felicity has started to collect his postcards and Steve will be performing some of his poetry/prose as part of the Volunteers’ Week – celebration party!
I’m Marie-Claude, I enjoy being a Life Coach, supporting people going through midlife transitions. Although it is a professional activity, I see it almost as a hobby, as I love listening to people. I enjoy photography as well, taking pictures of people. I like the world of arts, and I also volunteer for the Craft and Design Centre.
Through volunteering, I manage my time around activities that I choose. In my case it means choosing artistic and social activities.
At HOME, I enjoyed the Manchester Open Award Ceremony and all the activities I participated in around the Manchester Open Art exhibition. It is something I would like to be involved even more next time.
I also enjoyed the craft session for the Viva Festival, and the decoration morning.
I’m Elaine, a Senior Programmes Administrator at the University of Bolton.
I came to volunteering at HOME via MIF last year. Although it was 3 weeks of juggling full-time work with weekend and evening volunteering, it was a great experience that I missed when it was over. Volunteering at HOME allows me to still be part of a vibrant arts programme in the city centre.
I think my favourite event at HOME so far has been the HOME Sound Session in December. It was great music and so welcome after such a long time away from live music. I loved the Manchester Open Exhibition too and seeing the vast array of diverse exhibits was amazing. I’ve enjoyed all the theatre productions I’ve seen so far and look forward to those to come! HOME is an exciting and innovative place to be involved and everyone is very appreciative of the volunteers.
These are just a few of our talented pool of volunteers, look out for more volunteer stories on our social channels and if you’re visiting HOME this week, be sure to say hello to our volunteers, although they will probably say hello to you first!
[Main image credit: Shirlaine Forest]