It’s national Volunteers’ Week and we’re celebrating by saying thank you to all the amazing volunteers in Islington. Each day we will be sharing the inspirational story of a volunteer.   

We’ll be looking at the incredible work that volunteers have been doing over the last 12 months and more recently in response to the Covid-19 crisis. 

Join us by sharing your inspirational stories of people volunteering in Islington #VolunteersWeek #weareIslington. 

Thank you to everyone who volunteers in Islington!

Gabriella volunteers at Manor Gardens Welfare Trust, a local community centre in the north of the borough. Gabriella started as a volunteer receptionist and telephone befriender and as the lockdown continued, she has also become involved in the emergency food distribution which packs up 200 food parcels each week for local residents in need.

The centre has turned itself into an emergency food distribution centre in a matter of weeks and moved all their client facing work online. Gabriella says: ‘I feel very proud to be part of this process, knowing that this vital service is really making a difference for so many people who otherwise would be stuck at home with no access to fresh food and provisions.’

Gabriella had been wanting to volunteer for a while and do something that had a positive impact on her local community but wasn’t sure where to start. She saw the work that Manor Gardens Welfare Trust do on their website and visited the centre to ask if there were any volunteer opportunities and hasn’t looked back since!

She says anyone thinking of volunteering should go for it, think about what skills or expertise you could offer an organisation and get in touch to see if there are any opportunities. Gabriella says: ‘It is so rewarding to be part of an organisation that is having such a positive effect on the local community and I’ve got so much out of it.’