A milestone birthday for an amazing volunteer

Long-serving volunteer in our Bury St Edmunds shop, Lou Hovell, reached the incredible milestone of her 100th birthday earlier this month! We share her volunteering story.

Lou began volunteering with the BHF a fantastic 27 years ago when she was a widow looking to fill her time. Before that, Lou was a travel agent for many years and visited lots of countries around the world. She turned to volunteering to stay busy.

And busy she kept! Up until recently, Lou volunteered five days a week, doing every role possible in the shop: from training new volunteers to working on the shop floor. However, Lou’s favourite role has always been sorting, tagging, and pricing Gift Aid, where she gifted many hours. There’s no stopping Lou, as despite intending to retire from volunteering two years ago, Lou still finds herself popping in to the Bury shop to volunteer from time to time!

The shop at Bury held a birthday party for Lou to mark her 100th birthday. Lou received a personalised letter from BHF Retail Director, Alli Swaine Hughes, and Retail Volunteering Operations Manager, Sarah Boardman, alongside this special happy birthday message.

Manager of Bury St Edmunds, Edith, shares: “Lou is held in high esteem by everyone she meets, she truly is an amazing lady”.

We wish you a wonderful birthday, Lou, and can’t thank you enough for all your support over the years!