After Melanie Dobson’s mum passed away at Wakefield Hospice, she was determined to give back to the charity in any way she could. For Mel this meant giving the gift of time… “My mum passed away at Wakefield Hospice in 2007. The care she received was impeccable and because of this, Wakefield Hospice became my family’s chosen charity and we have always helped and supported the hospice as much as we can ever since. “In 2017 I attended a course that focussed on Mental Health. There was a phrase that really stuck with me “Do Good To Help Feel Good.” I was working full-time but I had some free time at the weekend so I decided to put that phrase into practice and that is when I applied to volunteer at Wakefield Hospice. “I was a bit apprehensive about how I would feel coming back to the hospice, and so I started my volunteering journey at the Horbury Shop, which was fabulous. I was meeting lots of new people and gaining experience in retail. “I wanted to push myself out my comfort zone and try something new, so in 2019 I left my job and - after feeling less apprehensive - I felt ready to come back to the hospice and started a new volunteering role on Reception, which I loved. My volunteering role gave me the confidence to enrol and complete a Level 2 Customer Service qualification, which in turn led to me securing a part-time job as a call handler for Yorkshire Ambulance. “I returned to volunteering on Reception after the height of the pandemic, and shortly afterwards I was approached and asked to help one day a week, with admin tasks in Volunteer Services. I am now employed at Wakefield Hospice as an Administration Assistant, working as part of the Volunteer Services/HR Team.” “Volunteering at Wakefield Hospice is not just a rewarding experience, it really does help me to ‘feel good, by doing good’. It has opened the door to so many new opportunities for me and helped me to gain employment too. It really is like being part of one big family that are all working together to do good!” To find out more about volunteering at Wakefield Hospice please click here.