‘Demand is still higher than pre-Covid’: Northampton charity appeals for more volunteers

A Northampton charity that helps homeless people and has seen a huge rise in demand since the start of the pandemic is appealing for more volunteers.

The Hope Centre, in Campbell Street, saw an influx of volunteers at the start of lockdown when local people found themselves on furlough or out of work.

As the charity shops closed during lockdown, many of the new volunteers were tasked with delivering food to vulnerable people as the charity’s services adapted, as well as working in the warehouse to sort food for parcels and the food bank.

Tanya Haji-Miller, community fundraiser for The Hope Centre, said: “There were all sorts of jobs that needed doing and people just jumped in and got their hands dirty, which is exactly what we needed.

“But we have noticed over the last two weeks or so that a lot of people volunteering in our food club are going back to work or back to studying.

“We are really struggling in the warehouse.

“Our charity shops are now open a few days a week as well, but some of our older volunteers are still keeping themselves safe at home, so we’re running the shops on skeleton volunteers too.”

Although the influx of volunteers has decreased considerably in recent weeks, the demand for support in the community has not declined at the same rate.

Some of the people the charity helped who may have been shielding at the start of lockdown and were unable to get out for food, are now able to help themselves once again.

However, according to Tanya, ‘demand is still higher than it was pre-Covid’ and there are a great deal of service users still in need of support due to job losses and other factors relating to the pandemic.

To keep the services running, the chairty urgently needs more volunteers.

Tanya added: “Volunteers are absolutely vital to what we do. We can’t carry on our services without our volunteers.

“Volunteers can be any sort of person, any age and we have jobs that are physical or not physical, there is no limitation of being a Hope volunteer.

“We hope to give any volunteer that comes in the best experience as we want people to tell their friends about it to get the word out there, as best we can, about what we do and how people can help us.

“Working at Hope is fantastic and I’m sure people would really enjoy volunteering here.”

As lockdown eases, the charity is planning fundraisers for next year, as well as working out ways to bring back services that had to be paused, such as training for service users.

“The pandemic will have a lasting effect on a lot of people, let alone rough sleepers,” Tanya continued.

“We have tried our best to keep our services open for them and we have done everything we can to minimise the effects of the pandemic on them.

“We’re just looking to the future now to see how we can make next year our best one yet.”

Whether it is helping out on the charity’s allotment patch, or serving in a shop, or sorting food in the warehouse, or a range or roles, The Hope Centre is keen to welcome new volunteers.

To find out more about volunteering, visit the charity’s website.

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