National Volunteer Week 2022
Volunteers are integral to what we do here at The Beehive. We exist because an amazing team of people give up their time to make it happen…
From DAY one (in fact, from day minus forty-two) The Beehive has been fuelled by people with beautiful hearts, giving their time, their energy and their passion to create the beautiful shopping experience that exists in this place that we call home. Volunteers MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Day-to-day, we have incredible volunteers who give their time to run the shop and cafe, welcoming customers and clients through the doors. We have volunteers who sneak in outside of shop hours, to build things for us, and plumb-in appliances, and fix things. We have volunteers who train; who lead; who empower other volunteers. We have over 50 volunteers who we call upon for a variety of roles- none less loved and valued than another, none worth more or less. All incredible and all an integral part of changing lives in Ashford and making people feel beautiful, valued and that they matter.
This year alone, our team gave over 8,586hours of their time across a variety of roles.
And every single moment of that time is gold.
“This year alone, our team gave over 8,586hours of their time across a variety of roles.”
But, as well as being run by and powered by volunteers, one of the dreams for The Beehive, before it had even begun, was that it would be a place where people would come to be empowered; trained; up-skilled and supported. That people come, be filled up and sent back out again.
Our volunteers come to us for a variety of reasons- whether they’re looking for a job and need to increase their skills and confidence, or they have time to give and want to be a part of what The Beehive does in Ashford. Either way, we always want people to leave our shop, a little better than they arrived. Which goes for our volunteers too!
In the past year, we have seen 6 of our regular volunteers grow their skills and confidence and step into meaningful paid employment. (Which is a very bitter-sweet feeling. We miss them terribly!) We have had 6 Duke of Edinburgh volunteers on work experience, and 2 volunteer interns in intensive training ready to launch their own Beehive in the near future.
We could not be more proud of the people in our Beehive Community- the ones who volunteer daily, the ones who volunteer once in a while, the ones who jump in save our skins in an emergency.
But more than that, we thoroughly love each and every one of them, as our family.
“We could not be more proud of the people in our Beehive Community...”
Volunteers are the very heart of The Beehive, not only because they keep us running practically, but because they bring an extra element of authenticity to the passion we have to change lives in Ashford. We will never stop being grateful for the volunteers who give of themselves up-front & centre, and behind-the-scenes.
We will never stop celebrating our volunteers, and we’ll never stop being grateful.
Our volunteers are 100% the best in the world.
That is a FACT.
Fancy joining our team? We’d love to have you! Fill in this simple form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
Got your own Beehive story to tell? No matter how big or small, we’d love to hear it- fill in this easy form and tell us about your Beehive Story. (Even if you want us to keep it private and not share it, that’s absolutely ok. But we’d still love to know!)
Want to support all that The Beehive does in Ashford? If you’d like to give financially, just click the “Donate” button on the button in this post or pop in & visit us in the shop & enjoy our clothes or cafe.
If you’re not local, but still want in on The Beehive shopping experience, we have a range of Beehive Merch available online too.
Or if you want to support us in a free & easy way, simply follow along with our story on social media & share us far and wide.
Author: Karen Thatcher (“Creativity and Comms Guru”)
Karen is one of our Core Team at The Beehive. She has been with us since day one, and oversees all the design, comms, marketing and digital side of what we do. When she’s not volunteering her time at The Beehive, she is a Freelance Creative & Communications Consultant, and has a little Empathy Card Shop on the side too.