It's Volunteers' Week and we're taking this opportunity to say a huge thank you to our wonderful team of volunteers!

The support our team of 65 volunteers provide plays a vital role in us being able to deliver our much-needed services to those with autism and learning disabilities across the South East.

Aspens' Director of Business Development and Income Generation, Richard Anstead, said: “We are enormously grateful to our fantastic volunteers and we take this time to say an enormous thank you them all. Each and every one of them plays a part in helping us continue to provide our services to some of the most vulnerable people in our community. Without their support, we simply wouldn’t be able to do what we do. With all of our shops and café now open again we are busier than ever and we are seeking others to join our team of volunteers. We're delighted that our new Volunteer Coordinator is starting next week, and we'd love to hear from anyone who may be interested in volunteering, please do get in touch if you can help – even if it’s just for a couple of hours a week.”

Retail and Cafe Coordinator Eve Halliday said:"I'd like to say a huge heartfelt thank you to all our amazing volunteers. We could not survive without them giving us their time and loyalty."

To mark Volunteers' Week all our volunteers have received a certificate of thanks from our CEO Robbie Shanahan and we'll be featuring interviews with a selection of our wonderful volunteers, hearing what they like best about helping out, why they chose to do it and why others should consider doing the same.

We start the week off by meeting Hannah, a student, who has recently started volunteering for Aspens. 

Hannah chose to volunteer for the charity as she has several close friends on the autism spectrum and says, “On hearing about Aspens’ values and mission, I was really taken with the charity. I’m really enjoying volunteering; the atmosphere is lovely and welcoming and I’ve met some great people. To those considering it, I’d say, ‘go for it’! There’s nothing to lose and everything to gain! It’s a great feeling that what you are doing counts towards something greater than yourself. What Aspens strives to do matters, which, when it all comes down to it, is what brought me here.”

A huge thanks to Hannah for choosing to volunteer for us, we are very grateful for all your help and hard work.

We'll be meeting more of our volunteers throughout the week, so keep an eye out on our social media.

For further information on volunteering opportunities with Aspens please contact: [email protected]