I think it’s an amazing service and I love my involvement with it.
Volunteer Sophie Cheetham has been helping out at Hope for Tomorrow since 2019, but volunteering has been in her blood from a young age, and she can’t imagine ever not doing it.
Now 49, she started volunteering at a Beaver Scout group when she was just 17, and in her twenties offered her time to a housebound learning group before becoming a breastfeeding peer supporter in her thirties and then chair of the local primary school PTA in her forties.
With three energetic boys to look after, Sophie spends a lot of time driving them to their various extra-curricular activities, but she still finds time to also edit the monthly newsletter in the Wiltshire village where she lives, as well as run her local Beaver Scout group.
Volunteering is definitely a family affair for Sophie. Her husband gives his free time as a football coach and her retired parents are also both volunteers. Her dad gardens each week at a local hospice and her mum helps at a monthly community wardrobe.
“I was on holiday with my family five years ago when I started thinking about what I could do on my return,” says Sophie.
“I wasn’t working at the time, I was a stay-at-home mum, but my children were all at school and I wanted something else to do that would be useful to others.
“I heard about Hope for Tomorrow and contacted them. Initially, I used to go into the office and do whatever needed to be done.”
Now, Sophie is responsible for clothes sales for the charity, and she has been on a mission for the past six months to find new locations for clothes banks to make it easier for people to donate items that can be sold or recycled to bring in funds for the charity.
“Hope for Tomorrow is just brilliant. It helps to take so much stress out of cancer treatment,” says Sophie.
“My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer last spring, so I know how worrying it can be. He was very lucky as not only was his cancer completely treatable but also he didn’t live too far from the hospital. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been if he had had to travel long distances for his treatment.
“There’s enough going on when someone needs regular cancer treatment without having to worry about travel, traffic and parking.
“Just parking at hospitals can be a complete nightmare not to mention having to navigate all those long hospital corridors to get to where you need to be.
“The Hope for Tomorrow units are so convenient for people and also much less clinical. I think it’s an amazing service and I love my involvement with it.
It feels so good to be helping people who are going through a difficult time, even indirectly through organising the clothes sales. Volunteering is, and always has been, part of my life. I don’t think people realise how rewarding it is until they give it a go.
“It really is a two-way street. It’s a great feeling to know I am helping others and making a difference, however small that might be. I get a huge amount of satisfaction back.”
Sophie says that now her sons are older, she has thought about finding a paid job.
“But I am lucky to be able to be in a position where I can offer my time as a volunteer and I really don’t want to give that up,” she says.
“As I see it, I get all the benefits and the satisfaction of working and having a purpose without any of the stress that goes with being an employee.
“I will hopefully carry on for as long as I can. I don’t see any reason not to. It works for me, and it fits around my family,” she says.
Sophie also likes that her sons get to see volunteering first-hand and that the concept of giving something back to society is being instilled in them.
“They have grown up with volunteering and they can see the importance of being able to contribute and the value of helping others.
“We are always talking about the importance of kindness and honesty. I feel that seeing their parents and grandparents volunteering provides a positive example and hopefully they too might be encouraged to volunteer one day.
“I think more people should think about volunteering. You really do get back as much as you give, and more.”
I think it’s an amazing service and I love my involvement with it.
Volunteer Sophie Cheetham has been helping out at Hope for Tomorrow since 2019, but volunteering has been in her blood from a young age, and she can’t imagine ever not doing it.
Now 49, she started volunteering at a Beaver Scout group when she was just 17, and in her twenties offered her time to a housebound learning group before becoming a breastfeeding peer supporter in her thirties and then chair of the local primary school PTA in her forties.
With three energetic boys to look after, Sophie spends a lot of time driving them to their various extra-curricular activities, but she still finds time to also edit the monthly newsletter in the Wiltshire village where she lives, as well as run her local Beaver Scout group.
Volunteering is definitely a family affair for Sophie. Her husband gives his free time as a football coach and her retired parents are also both volunteers. Her dad gardens each week at a local hospice and her mum helps at a monthly community wardrobe.
“I was on holiday with my family five years ago when I started thinking about what I could do on my return,” says Sophie.
“I wasn’t working at the time, I was a stay-at-home mum, but my children were all at school and I wanted something else to do that would be useful to others.
“I heard about Hope for Tomorrow and contacted them. Initially, I used to go into the office and do whatever needed to be done.”
Now, Sophie is responsible for clothes sales for the charity, and she has been on a mission for the past six months to find new locations for clothes banks to make it easier for people to donate items that can be sold or recycled to bring in funds for the charity.
“Hope for Tomorrow is just brilliant. It helps to take so much stress out of cancer treatment,” says Sophie.
“My dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer last spring, so I know how worrying it can be. He was very lucky as not only was his cancer completely treatable but also he didn’t live too far from the hospital. I can’t imagine how hard it would have been if he had had to travel long distances for his treatment.
“There’s enough going on when someone needs regular cancer treatment without having to worry about travel, traffic and parking.
“Just parking at hospitals can be a complete nightmare not to mention having to navigate all those long hospital corridors to get to where you need to be.
“The Hope for Tomorrow units are so convenient for people and also much less clinical. I think it’s an amazing service and I love my involvement with it.
It feels so good to be helping people who are going through a difficult time, even indirectly through organising the clothes sales. Volunteering is, and always has been, part of my life. I don’t think people realise how rewarding it is until they give it a go.
“It really is a two-way street. It’s a great feeling to know I am helping others and making a difference, however small that might be. I get a huge amount of satisfaction back.”
Sophie says that now her sons are older, she has thought about finding a paid job.
“But I am lucky to be able to be in a position where I can offer my time as a volunteer and I really don’t want to give that up,” she says.
“As I see it, I get all the benefits and the satisfaction of working and having a purpose without any of the stress that goes with being an employee.
“I will hopefully carry on for as long as I can. I don’t see any reason not to. It works for me, and it fits around my family,” she says.
Sophie also likes that her sons get to see volunteering first-hand and that the concept of giving something back to society is being instilled in them.
“They have grown up with volunteering and they can see the importance of being able to contribute and the value of helping others.
“We are always talking about the importance of kindness and honesty. I feel that seeing their parents and grandparents volunteering provides a positive example and hopefully they too might be encouraged to volunteer one day.
“I think more people should think about volunteering. You really do get back as much as you give, and more.”
