Alex on stand duty at Chestnut Tree’s Night to Remember.

Chestnut Tree volunteer tells it like it is

Varied and extensive roles for volunteers in the East Sussex area are available with the Chestnut Tree children’s hospice, which recently launched a recruiting campaign entitled Volunteer for the New Year. The charity provides a taster of the volunteer life through the eyes of Alex Charles-Weston. 

Alex, 26 years old and resident in Eastbourne, has been volunteering for Chestnut Tree, which provides care for children with life-limiting illnesses, for almost two years, helping out at fundraising events. Her contributions include manning a stand at the hospice’s Night to Remember midnight walk, judging a dog show at a family fun day in Heathfield and volunteering at Picnic in the Park, when over 1,000 people descended on Gildredge Park in Eastbourne last August.

Alex at Eastbourne’s Steam Punk festival.

“I tend to volunteer around once a month; sometimes it can be more but sometimes less. I choose what events I do, what days I do, how long I want to stay, it really is very flexible,” Alex says. “The thing I enjoy most about volunteering is meeting the regular volunteers and staff, you become like a little family really, have a laugh and have fun, and all the time you know that you are giving something back. Initially I thought I would just try it to see what it was like, but I enjoyed it so much that I decided to carry on. I would definitely recommend volunteering.”

Part of Alex’s reasons for volunteering included building up her CV, and the many responsibilities she has had as a volunteer have certainly helped her to do that – she recently started a part-time job as a consequence.

But she does not intend to spend less time volunteering for Chestnut Tree. “I wouldn’t leave Chestnut Tree now,” she says. “They’re going to be stuck with me for life.”

“We just couldn’t survive without the help of amazing volunteers like Alex,” comments Charlie Weeks, community fundraiser for East Sussex. “Without them we wouldn’t be able to hold or support events that are essential to help raise vital funds. Less than 7p in every pound of our annual care costs are supported by central government, so to keep providing care to life-limited children in East Sussex we need to find other ways to raise the money.”

The reach-out for volunteers is part of the ongoing Hands Up! campaign by Chestnut Tree, to raise awareness of the charity throughout East Sussex with the aim of doubling the number of children they can provide care for in the area.

Interested in volunteering with Chestnut Tree? Call 01323 725095 or email handsup@chestnut-tree-house.org.uk. For further information about Chestnut Tree in East Sussex visit the website or follow @HandsUpToHelp.

See also Volunteers needed for local children’s hospice

Also in: Campaigns