Caroline Venables, has been volunteering for the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund for the past year and she has been such an invaluable support we are delighted to announce she was named our “Volunteer of the Year.”
Caroline, from Shrewsbury accepted the accolade at our annual AGM and awards evening recently at Shrewsbury Town Football Club.
Caroline has had a long and successful career in various roles which most recently saw her managing the Oxfam shop in Shrewsbury, which gave her a real insight to the charity sector, helping others and the joy it brings.
She said they were the best working years of her life during which she managed a large team.
“The pleasure the job gave me is unreal and I really enjoyed identifying the skills of the volunteers,” she said.
Sadly, when Caroline finished her role with Oxfam, her mother-in-law passed away from cancer. And just two weeks later her mum also passed away. Caroline said the treatment they received at the Lingen Davies Cancer Centre made a positive difference to their lives at the time.
Caroline first found out about Lingen Davies from a customer who used to come into Oxfam looking for costumes as she was involved with the Lingen Davies Shrewsbury Committee. Caroline was looking for something fulfilling so she could give something back, so she called Lingen Davies and offered to volunteer.
She met with Community and Volunteer Fundraiser Karen Roberts and was told about the tea trolley in the Lingen Davies Cancer Centre radiotherapy services.
Caroline started looking after the tea trolley every Thursday morning.
“I love it,” said Caroline. “The whole place, from the team on reception, to the clinical staff. You can see how nervous people feel when they first come in so it is wonderful to be able to welcome people with a warm drink and help put them at ease,” she added.
While working for Lingen Davies, Caroline’s charity sales skills and background in corporate merchandising came into play and she was able to work on revamping our online shop and sourcing some of the products.
Caroline has now been volunteering for us for over a year as says it is “one of the best things” she has done.
“If you are in the position where you have the time to come and give something back, you’ve hit the jackpot. There’s never a day I don’t want to go in and help. I want a purpose and to add value. It’s a two-way street and it gives me as much personal joy and fulfilment as I hope I can offer the charity,” she said.
Caroline was involved in the production of the Lingen Davies 2024 Christmas card, designed for us exclusively by Shrewsbury artist Lyn Evans and printed by Welshpool Printing Group.
On receiving her Volunteer of the Year recognition award Caroline said she was “absolutely delighted.”
“It was such a well-attended and lovely evening to give back to all those involved with charity. I was thrilled to bits to get an award, but I am just absolutely delighted to be able to volunteer for such a worthy cause.”
Get involved and help support Lingen Davies – have fun whilst helping to raise money and awareness for the Lingen Davies Cancer Fund.
