I’ve been volunteering for about two years now… well, two years in October. This is my first proper volunteering role. I’d helped with things before, you know, here and there, but nothing regular. Nothing where I knew I’d be turning up every Friday no matter what.
It all started with me scrolling on Facebook. Me and Kimmi have a mutual friend — or acquaintance really — and he’d posted something about needing support for mental-health cleaning. And at that point I’d just gone down to four days a week at work. I suddenly had Fridays free and I thought, I should probably do something useful with them instead of wandering round Tesco. So I messaged him, and he put me in touch with Kimmi, and that was that.
There’s no typical day, honestly. I’ve learnt that quickly. But if I had to describe one, I’d describe a Friday clean. So we go to the person’s house, and it’s usually six or seven hours of cleaning. Proper cleaning, not just wiping down worktops. It’s heavy stuff sometimes. And while we’re doing that, we’re also spending time with the person, checking they’re okay, chatting a bit, just being there really. Kimmi does the photos and videos, and I do the practical side. I probably haven’t explained that very well, but that’s basically it — a lot of cleaning and a lot of supporting someone at the same time.
What keeps me going back is the impact. Most of the people we help have been through something huge — losing someone, big mental-health struggles, physical problems, anything really. Their homes are normally very cluttered, very untidy, not usable. And what we can do in a day is honestly impressive. You walk in at the start and think, this is a lot, and by the end you see them walk into that new space and it’s like watching someone breathe properly again. That’s the most rewarding feeling ever. That’s why I keep coming back.
My reason for joining at the beginning was a bit different though. I lost my mum in 2020, and after that I had really bad anxiety. One of the things that made me most anxious was clutter — like, even in my own house. Cleaning became my thing to keep my mind busy. So when I saw something that was cleaning and helping someone, it kind of felt perfect for me at the time.
My motivations have changed now. Back then it was more about me needing something to do. Now it’s about the difference it makes to the person we’re helping.
I’ve definitely learnt new skills. My cleaning skills are brilliant now, obviously. But there’s other stuff too. I used to work in the NHS for ages, so talking to people from different backgrounds wasn’t scary for me. But now I work in a really corporate environment, and volunteering has kept me in touch with that other side — the human side, I suppose.
And fundraising — that was new. I’d never done anything like that before. I wasn’t a “self-promotion on Facebook” person at all. Kimmy basically had to teach me how to use the camera. Now I can write posts, do raffles, talk to businesses, all of that. Because we’re just a volunteer group, we don’t get big funding, so we’ve had to do a lot ourselves — even just covering the insurance.
Another big thing for me: at work I lead a team. Here, I don’t. And actually, it’s really nice being told what to do for a change. It’s a good shift. A healthy one, probably.
If someone said to me they’re thinking about volunteering, I’d say definitely do it. People think of charity shops and things like that, but it’s so much more. You meet people you’d never meet otherwise. You see things you didn’t know were happening. It opens your eyes. And it reminds you that a bit of your time can actually make a massive difference to someone’s life.
And that’s worth showing up for. Every single Friday.
