Post | September 2025 | Volunteer Stories | 2 min read

From Volunteer to Chair: My Journey with GoVolHerts

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Looking to give back to your community but not sure where to start? The upcoming Virtual Volunteer Fair is the perfect chance to explore a wide range of opportunities across Hertfordshire and find a role that suits your skills, interests, and availability.

One volunteer who found his path through GoVolHerts is Peter Hopkins, now Chair of Trustees at Young Carers Crew.

“In 2022, I wanted to get back into volunteering to give something back to the community, but wasn’t sure where to start. A contact recommended GoVolHerts, a platform connecting people in Hertfordshire with meaningful volunteer roles. So off I went! In searching the site, I came across a role as a Trustee for Young Carers Crew – a charity supporting young people who care for family members with illness or disability. The description explained that trustees help guide the charity’s strategy, ensure good governance, and support its fundraising efforts. With many years business experience in senior roles, I felt that a trustee role was one where I could make a real difference.”

Peter applied through GoVolHerts and was soon welcomed onto the board of trustees.

“It took a few meetings to get to know everyone and to start making a contribution. Initially I took on responsibility for fundraising strategy, and had a number of successes with local government and foundation grants. I have since moved on to take the role of Treasurer, with the added responsibilities of Charity Commission reporting and dealing with HMRC queries – and this has certainly enabled me to develop new skills! I have recently taken on the additional role of Chair of Trustees, and as I reflect on the last three years, I certainly feel that I’ve been able to make a difference to the governance of the charity, ensuring we are in a good place financially to continue to support young carers in our area.”

The experience has been rewarding not just for Peter but also for the charity.

“As a charity, we continue to use GoVolHerts to recruit new trustees and volunteers, and to bring new sets of skills to the group! I would certainly recommend the site to any charity looking to engage volunteers with their purpose, and thanks to all the team for their continued support!”

Peter’s story is just one example of how volunteering can open doors, build new skills, and make a real difference. If you’re curious about how you could get involved, the Virtual Volunteer Fair is a fantastic place to start.

Peter Hopkins, Chair of Trustees, Young Carers Crew

"We need you to help keep the helicopters flying!"

| Volunteer Stories

Meet Sue Akers who kindly volunteers for the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance. Please tell us a little more about yourself and your volunteering work? Before I joined as a volunteer for the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance I organised an annual golf day which, over a period of 7 years, raised £100,000. I was then asked if I would like to join the charity as a volunteer, which I did over 10 years ago. I currently help in one of EHAAT’s charity shops where my main role is to look after the window displays, and with merchandising generally in the shop. It’s a rewarding job raising money for the charity. I also enjoy meeting and chatting with the public making people more aware of the charity’s life-saving work. What roles are available at the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance? There are many things that the Essex & Herts Air Ambulance charity needs volunteers to help with, for instance attending promotional events; collecting donations at bucket collections; giving talks within the community or helping deliver Visitor Centres Tours at North Weald and Earls Colne; and helping out in our offices. Why would you recommend volunteering to others? My message to anyone wanting to volunteer is, regardless of age, nationality or gender we need you to help keep the helicopters flying! Jane Morton, Volunteer Manager commented “Sue is a highly valued, well regarded and much appreciated member of our volunteer team, and we would like to thank her for all her help over the years” To find out more about volunteering with the charity please visit https://www.govolherts.org.uk/o/Essex--Herts-Air-Ambulance

"Since starting to work with us Jack has worked with Sam to build his social confidence and resulted in a trial shift for part time work"

| Volunteer Stories

Caudwell Youth mentors at-risk young people aged 11-24 years into new futures over a period of 2 years. They currently work across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes. Meet ‘Sam’ (20) and Mentor Jack from Luton. Sam has learning difficulties and came to Caudwell Youth as he was struggling to make friends and become independent. “He is at college and volunteers once a week at a youth centre, since starting to work with us Jack has worked with Sam to build his social confidence and resulted in a trial shift for part time work. They both love computing and Jack is supporting Sam to build his own pc using his knowledge”. This is just one example of how Caudwell Youth's mentoring model is person-centred, and how they match young people and volunteer mentors based on interests, skills and personality. This ensures the young person receives support completely tailored to them. "We always keep the young person’s best interests at hear" Find out more about the volunteering opportunities with Caudwell Youth https://www.govolherts.org.uk/o/Caudwell-Youth

"Improving number skills can have a positive effect in many ways"

| Volunteer Stories

Meet Polly, one of the incredible team of volunteer Number Ninjas, located across the county of Hertfordshire and ready to support residents in improving their number skills! (Polly is on the right of this photo, pictured with a Hertfordshire resident, Abbi). Improving number skills can have a positive effect in many ways; from being able to better support children during their education, to improving the finances and financial prospects of a household through better money decisions. Likewise, at work, with improved numeracy, productivity and profits increase for a business which has an effect on the wider economy, so there’s lots of good reasoning behind this drive to make us love numbers! The Government is dedicating a large amount of money to this cause and that’s why the Multiply programme has been established. Funding is being allocated to various councils and Step2Skills is heading up the Multiply programme in Hertfordshire. With this level of funding, we couldn’t do it alone and we are partnering with a number of organisations across the county to deliver Multiply-funded workshops/courses and support local residents with number skills. Number Ninja Polly is currently located at Create Community Network in Letchworth. The Number Ninjas are a vital part of the Multiply journey as they are the first point of contact with someone and can find out more about how someone could use the help of Step2Skills with their number skills. Thank you Polly and the Number Ninja team! To find out more about this opportunity please visit https://www.govolherts.org.uk/o/Step2Skills/opportunities