'It was great to feel needed, while simultaneously learning new skills, and it did wonders for my mental health!'

Helen’s Story

During 2020, Helen began volunteering at our eBay shop for a couple of half days per week, this soon changed to 3 days per week as Helen enjoyed it so much! After volunteering for around 18 months, the eBay department began to expand and a role for an E-Commerce Listing Specialist became available and Helen was successful in obtaining a permanent part time position. We spoke to Helen about her time at eBay and her return again as a volunteer.

Helen’s Volunteering Journey

When lockdown commenced in 2020, Helen was put on furlough, and like many people, but unbeknown to her at the time, never returned to her job. The nature of her role meant she was unable to work from home and found that she unexpectedly had a lot of time on her hands.

“I am someone who likes to be occupied, and as the lockdowns continued there were many volunteering and 'good neighbour' roles popping up within the community. I was keen to become a volunteer for a number of reasons: to have a reason to get out of the house as so many of us were forced to stay at home, to have some sort of routine back in my life, to help others, and to keep myself occupied.”

This led Helen to contact the Hospice in June of 2020, to enquire about volunteering her time in one of our retail shops, as she was unaware of our online eBay. During this time, our shops remained closed due to restrictions, but it was mentioned to her that eBay was still running at full capacity!

“The flexibility within voluntary work was really useful, and the job satisfaction was a huge bonus. It was great to feel needed, whilst simultaneously learning new skills, and it did wonders for my mental health!”

Helen remained in her role as E-Commerce Listing Specialist for 2 and a half years, recently making the decision to resign due to personal reasons. This decision was difficult to make after spending so much time with the team and making many friends along the way.

Recently, Helen made the decision to return to volunteering for eBay. Days are never the same and the variety of work is what appealed most. There is always something to do at eBay, whether that be preparing parcels for posting, researching and photographing donations ready for listing online, or liaising with customers.

“It's funny how doors open unexpectedly. If it hadn't been for lockdown, I would never have become a volunteer; I would never have met and worked with such wonderful people; and I would never have got the job satisfaction that both my roles as an employee and a volunteer have given me.”

Thank you for your time and dedication Helen in supporting St. Rocco’s Hospice.