Volunteering with local charity, New Hope

One of the benefits given to all staff at Watford Community Housing is that everyone gets two paid volunteering days. As a Community Gateway organisation, encouraging our staff to volunteer with local groups and charities is important to us and helps us connect with our communities.

These volunteering days can be used for a variety of activities such as fundraising, administration of public community events, or volunteering opportunities offered by Watford Community Housing.

We’re happy to say that one of our colleagues, Carol Tunstall – our Community and Customer Engagement Manager – used her volunteering days over the Christmas period! Carol used her two volunteering days to help a homelessness charity called New Hope. New Hope are a local charity who support individuals who are homeless or vulnerably-housed by providing homes and opportunities to improve their lives.

When asked about her experience, Carol said: “On Christmas Day I cooked a full Christmas lunch at their New Hope House project for nine residents who are in recovery from alcohol and substance misuse. And then on New Year’s Day I cooked lunch for 23 residents at The Sanctuary, which houses their Outreach Plus team and Emergency Accommodation service.

"This experience gave me the chance to work with other volunteers from a wide variety of backgrounds and to learn more about the homeless problem in the Watford area. I loved engaging with all these residents that I probably wouldn't have met otherwise – they were all very polite and grateful to the volunteers for giving up their time. 

"I thoroughly enjoyed my two days with New Hope and would be happy to do it again in the future!”

Find out more about the brilliant work New Hope do here.