Volunteers week 2018

01 June, 2018

The 1st – 7th June is Volunteers’ Week. A chance to say thank you for the fantastic contribution millions of volunteers make across the UK.

Volunteers have always been at the heart of Colostomy UK’s work. The skills, experience, time and energy they bring, make a huge difference to so many. Our volunteers support people living with stomas, their families, carers and friends, through open days, helpline support, fundraising,  campaigning to raise awareness and supporting the office team.

We want to say a big

to each and everyone one of you.

As part of volunteers week we will be featuring some of our amazing volunteers and highlighting the fantastic work they do for us.

Kate supports us in the office 2 days a week and helps out our admin and marketing teams. She’s a great asset to the team, willing to help on any task big or small. Kate is always smiling and we love having her as a volunteer.  Thank you Kate.

Martin has been a Colostomy UK volunteer for about 4 years and represents Colostomy UK at company or hospital open days and also visits both pre and post operative patients. We asked Martin what being a volunteer means to him
“It is satisfying to talk directly to ostomates, and to help them understand the situation, and hopefully to see they are able to lead a normal life.
Being a volunteer is so very rewarding and it also encouraged me to start a local support group, which have become very successful.  I hope that I can continue to help the work of Colostomy UK and what it is doing for Ostomates.”  Thank you Martin

Alfred had a colostomy in 2006 as a result of bowel cancer. He became a volunteer with Colostomy UK five years later taking helpline calls and attending open days. In 2013 Alfred became a trustee for Colostomy UK, with a focus on the finances of the charity. To support ostomates further, in 2011 he set up a support group in Stevenage called ‘Ostomistics’. The group now has over 150 members and meets at 4 times a month. Alfred has been a driving force behind the charity for many years now and we are very grateful for his dedication. Thank you Alfred.

Irene has been a volunteer for us since 2011. She regularly mans our helpline out of hours and is always willing call and speak to any ostomate looking for support. Irene also represents Colostomy UK at open days in the Shropshire area. She is a very active campaigner for our Stoma Friendly toilet campaign and is busy working her way round all the public toilets in Oswestry to ensure that they have a shelf, hook, bin and ‘not all disabilities are visible’ signage.  She has also been instrumental in getting The Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to upgrade the loos in the Colorectal Ward, Oncology Dept and also in The Hamar Centre (which gives support for cancer patients) and to agree to upgrade all their public accessible toilets in the rest of the hospital to comply with the Colostomy UK guidelines.

When she not busy volunteering for us she runs a local support group, Shropshire BOTs (Bums on Tums) self help group. Irene is an incredibly valued member of the team and we don’t know what we would do without her.  Thank you Irene