A young woman who volunteers for Isabel Hospice has been nominated for a national award.
Cerys Brady, who joined the retail team at the Hospice’s charity shop in Hatfield town centre last September on a nine-month placement from university, has been shortlisted in the Young Volunteer category of the Charity Retail Awards 2022.
Cerys’s nomination is one of two for the Welwyn-based end-of-life care charity, which was also one of only three organisations to make the shortlist in the Outstanding Charity Retailer category, alongside big names Oxfam and The Salvation Army.
Isabel Hospice area manager Jane Morrison said Cerys, 21, had made a huge impression on everyone since she started volunteering at the Hatfield shop.
Of the Reading University student, who is studying for a BSc Human Geography degree, she said: “Initially, Cerys had struggled to find a placement for her year in industry as they were few and far between as a result of Covid, but rather than just miss the year, or do her final year early, she reached out to us and decided to use the time to volunteer, and we are so grateful for all Cerys has done over the last year.
“During her time with us, Cerys has worked in all areas of trading, including shops, warehouse, e-commerce and head office. She has taken an active role in overseeing Depop so we can reach a new customer base, and has supported the less tech-savvy staff members with rolling out Instagram accounts for each of our 16 shops.
“She has been pivotal in increasing followers and providing a hashtag sheet and explaining why they are needed to some very confused teams. She has helped support our shops by volunteering in different locations and is much-loved by both the volunteers and staff for her enthusiasm, hard work and commitment to the Hospice. In the main two shops that Cerys supports, they have beaten budget by +16%.
“Cerys is positive and smiley all the time and is always willing to help and go the extra mile without being asked. She is a great reflection of our Isabel Hospice values and has been a great asset for our team. We are so happy that Cerys is going to continue volunteering with us even now that her placement has finished.”
The winners are due to be announced at an awards ceremony this autumn. Isabel’s Head of Retail Charlotte Greenwood said being named as a finalist in two categories against competition from other charitable organisations across the UK was a huge achievement.
“I’m particularly proud we have been shortlisted for Outstanding Charity Retailer,” she said. “We’re up against Oxfam, with over 750 shops, and The Salvation Army, with 200 shops, so as a smaller charity with only 16 shops this is quite an achievement!”
Key milestones for the retail team over the last year include the launch of the Tonnes of Care sustainability initiative, including the Saturday opening for the Donation Centre in Welwyn and the introduction of mobile pop-ups across eastern Hertfordshire to make it even easier for people to donate their unused and unwanted goods. The charity took in over 68,500 bags of donations and the 14 mobile donation pop-ups resulted in an incremental 3,212 bags on top of that. Meanwhile, followers on Isabel’s eBay store increased from 15,500 to 21,100.
Charlotte added: “This year, we also supported Pride for the first time by creating wonderful window displays. In most of our towns, our shops were the only ones on the high street to display Pride at all, so we were proud to make this leap to publicly display our support and break down barriers the LGBTQ+ community may have so they know hospice care is for all.”
