The last few years have brought with it many changes to the world of work, such as flexibility to fit around busy schedules, and the volunteering landscape is determined not to be left behind. At the BHF, we are constantly adapting and evolving our volunteering offer to ensure that we are presenting you, our wonderful volunteers, innovative ways to support us in a way that suits you. The new does not supersede the traditional, but we are excited to share some updated ways that volunteers can support our retail work. We catch up with Tracy Atherton, who volunteers for the BHF from the comfort of her own home.
Tracy is an Online Lister, a new remote volunteering role that allows her to support the BHF from her living room! Tracy began volunteering after wanting to support her sister, who is a Sunday Assistant in the store, and quickly identified an opportunity to get involved.
Once a week, Tracy visits the Thornbury shop to collect items the team have set aside for listing for sale via Shopiago, our online listing tool. Tracy takes the items home to photograph them and uploads them onto Shopiago. Once the items are sold, Tracy returns them to the shop and the shop team post the items.
This role is ideally carried out from home as it offers more space than the sort room for displaying items on a mannequin, ensuring they can be viewed appropriately for selling. It also allows Tracy to be able to concentrate without being interrupted.
Tracy tells us, “I volunteered to take on listing from home to overcome limitations in the sort room. At home I photograph the items using my personal mobile which makes the process quicker and easier.”
Tracy now has wording templates set up on her own PC for speedier, more effective listing which result in items being sold for higher prices.
Currently, Tracy’s focus has been on listing clothing to perfect the process. Maureen, the Thornbury shop Manager, and Tracy now plan to extend this to other products.
Maureen shares her thoughts on the role, ““I am delighted that Tracy has decided to take this on as her own role, she does a great job and I am so thankful for her support. By carrying out this role from home, we are able to make more sales and be a lot more efficient in our processes, which is really beneficial for our shop.”
Our Retail Volunteering Operations Manager, Sarah Boardman, reflects on the importance and benefits that remote volunteering roles can bring:
“This new form of volunteering is becoming more and more popular. We know that people want to volunteer in a way that suits them that is easy and flexible. It allows people to volunteer when our shops are not even open, and it opens up volunteering opportunities for people with mobility restrictions who’d prefer to volunteer from home. Selling online is a fast-growing part of the retail business for BHF and remote online listing helps to support our growth strategy – everyone’s a winner!”
Keep an eye out for remote volunteering opportunities for you to get involved with.