Changing Lives Charity relies heavily on our team of volunteers. Whether they are supporting Jess and the residents at Andrew House, sorting and/or selling stock through one of our retail spaces or helping out with deliveries and collections on our fleet of vans, the Charity would find it hard to function without our willing and enthusiastic volunteer base. 

In addition to the above roles, we also have a dedicated team of volunteers helping out in our upcycling workshop at the warehouse, breathing new life into previously much-loved items. One of these volunteers is Kay who has been with the Charity for over 5 years now. Read on to find out how Kay, in her own words, came to join our team and what she does here...

Ant

"I have always enjoyed craft work and back in the late 70's when newly married and having embarked on the restoration of an old cottage, there was no money left to furnish it.  So began the journey of picking up hand-me-downs, and discarded items in second hand shops (as they were then). It was fun giving things a coat of paint, stripping them back and rewaxing, adding new handles, fresh cushions from odd bits of material and making them feel new.  

 After Covid I read an article in one of the local papers about how Changing Lives had faired during the pandemic, having to close some shops and setting up the website to sell their items. The article mentioned that volunteers were needed to repair, refurbish and upcycle some of their donated items.  This really appealed, as there is only so much furniture anyone needs in their own home, but I still enjoyed the process of upcycling.  I met with Hasina for a chat and she explained the work of Changing Lives and if I wanted to give it a try, why not come in and see how I got on.  

The first piece I worked on was a wooden kitchen roll dispenser - I'm not sure if it benefited from painting or if anyone ever bought it, but seeing other more interesting items in the warehouse I was hooked.  Some of my favourite pieces to upcycle have been the more quirky items, furniture people have brought back from overseas travel and which don't fit alongside more conventional styles, but with a few tweaks add something to a room.  I've also enjoyed taking old suitcases/trunks and turning them into coffee tables, adding legs or castors.  I don't always know exactly how I'm going to upcycle a piece, it develops as you go along and ideas come to you.  This was very true when Charlotte asked if I could make a chest of drawers look like a stack of suitcases. She'd seen a photograph of such an item, and so I said "ok I'll have a go".  We're very lucky in the warehouse as we have all sorts of items you can use for such projects, taking handles, straps, clasps from other items and adapting them to give the impression of a suitcase.  I think it worked and we've sold four of these now!

 I really enjoy being part of the Changing Lives team and helping in a small way to support the great work they do in helping people who are experiencing difficulties and hard times in their life." 

Kay