Serving the local community is at the heart of what the Romsey Mill Charity Shop is all about, according to Liz Diamond, the Charity Shop Development Manager.   

Liz says:

Working in a relational way is a strength that runs through all that Romsey Mill does and is integral to the success of the projects we undertake.

This is also true of the charity shop as we seek to extend this ethos of being relational into the community we serve. 

We endeavour to work in partnership, wherever we can, to meet the needs of customers and volunteers.

A great example of this is our joined-up working with the programme areas that are run by Romsey Mill. 

The charity shop currently has three volunteers who previously benefited from Romsey Mill’s Young Parents Project. They now want to give their time to support the shop, as their children have become independent and they have more time to focus on themselves.

Over the past six years, a young man, who previously attended Aspire, has shown his gratitude for the support he gained from the project by giving his time to volunteer for two sessions a week.

Each of these volunteers are growing in confidence and character and adding to the skills they began developing whilst they were part of Romsey Mill’s programmes.

There are also three young volunteers, who have just left Aspire and are now attending college. Volunteering at the shop is helping them to become more ‘work ready’, and we liaise closely with their support workers to help them move into employment.

 

Sarah, who has just completed four weeks of volunteering at the shop told us: "This really isn't as scary as I thought it would be. I think I might just enjoy this kind of thing. There's so much I can do in here that I didn't realise I'd be able to do."