Volunteers Week: Cathedral Welcomers

First published: June 2024

At Newcastle Cathedral’s Volunteers’ Week Celebration Service on Tuesday 4 June, we had the pleasure of honouring not only the Cathedral’s volunteers but also those from the wider city and Diocese. The service featured stories from Leigh Newman of the NHS and Nimerta Virdee from Connected Voice, along with contributions from the Very Revd Lee Batson, Dean of Newcastle, and our Volunteer Coordinator, Vanessa Ward, highlighting the invaluable contributions volunteers make.

After the service, we caught up with Jen and Carol, who regularly welcome visitors to the Cathedral. They began volunteering separately in the summer of 2021, following the completion of the Cathedral’s National Lottery Heritage Fund redevelopment.

Carol shares what motivated her to volunteer at the Cathedral: “I retired from being a midwife quite a few years ago, and I had grandchildren, but then they started to grow up, and I started to think, well, what am I going to do?… Then, I saw through my church that they wanted volunteers for the Cathedral when it reopened. And so I thought that would be perfect.”

Jen also started volunteering post-lockdown in August 2021: “I was looking for a new volunteer opportunity, and I was just sort of Google searching…I fancied doing something in a heritage setting… And I have to confess, at the time, I had never actually been in the Cathedral before I started volunteering!”

Both Jen and Carol love interacting with visitors and fellow volunteers and are fascinated by the Cathedral’s history.

Carol says: “I love meeting people. I love to talk. I love the heritage of this building and everything that it represents about Newcastle. And [I also love] meeting lots of people who don’t live in Newcastle – you have people who come from all over the country and from around the world, so it’s a perfect opportunity for somebody like me who’s just a bit chatty. You get to know people and I get a lot from them as well.

“And meeting all the other volunteers and the staff of the Cathedral is really good. I feel I’m doing something for me and not just for everybody else in the family. This is my thing. My family are so very proud of me, and it’s lovely.”

Jen volunteers behind the retail counter – what are her favourite products? “The little recycled angels… Even if you’re not religious, angels are symbolic in lots of ways… And the [woodcarved] mice always sell out, too!”

Carol highlights helping out at Cathedral events as among her favourite experiences: “One I loved was ABBA by Candlelight because of the music. I also did the Bobby Robson event [‘Christmas at the Cathedral’, in support of the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation] – I obviously loved that because of the music and the fact it was for a great cause.

“The other thing that I really enjoyed was the Cathedrals Conference a couple of years ago – seeing so many people from all over the country and all the different cathedrals coming together.

“If I go anywhere else in the country, I always go to a church or a cathedral, and I like to tell them that I volunteer at Newcastle Cathedral.”

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Jen and Carol exemplify the dedication and enthusiasm across the Cathedral’s volunteer community. Volunteers can always choose when and how to volunteer with us, and we support them in fulfilling their own potential, aims, and goals.

If you are interested in joining us, please visit our Better Impact portal and browse our current opportunities.

If you would like an informal conversation or have any questions, please feel free to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Vanessa Ward.

We are here to support and guide you in your journey toward becoming a valued member of our volunteer team.