"We have a great team here both staff and volunteers. I also continue my training with D of E, and we often have brothers or sisters of previous students, as they know they are going to enjoy it.”
Meet Jackie Manager of Highfield Owned, in Hemel Hempstead! She’s been part of the Hospice team for over ten years, since 2011. We learnt more about her role at Highfield Owned, and when she joined the Hospice team:
“In July 2010, my mother passed away at the Hospice and I could not believe the wonderful care that both she and our family got from all the Hospice staff. At the time, I was a retail manager at La Senza in Hemel. I felt I wanted to give back to the Hospice.
I joined the retail team for the Hospice in January 2011 and became the manager of the Berkhamsted charity shop. Although very different to what I was used to, I soon found out how much fun it was to run the shop and work with wonderful volunteers. In January 2012, I transferred to our Marlowes shop, where I stayed until September 2021 when we closed.
I like running a charity shop, as no two days are the same. You never know what you will receive in the donations, or what will sell, it certainly keeps you busy!
I also discovered that I love training people - volunteers or staff, and Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) students. At Marlowes, I lost count of how many DofE students we’ve had, they are very quick learners and adapt to anything you need. Many went on to University. We had two students go to Oxford and one to Cambridge, (volunteering really looks good on your CV!) I felt like a proud parent to them all. We even have one DofE volunteer who has his own company and had produced and then sold a streaming game, which he does the illustrations for. He always said by checking all our toys and computer games, it gave him the start he needed.
In September 2021, I moved to the Highfield shop, which has now been branded as Highfield Owned. This is in the heart of the community of Highfield. Our loyal customers and donors could come in two or three times a day.
I have never looked back. I can honestly say I enjoy coming to work as much as I did in the first year.”
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