As we get ready to open up again, Gemma tells us how volunteering at Remake has helped her meet new people and learn new things.
“Doing my Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award at Remake has been really rewarding. It has helped me develop so many different skills, given me a fantastic insight into how the community is aided by local charities and shown me what a difference organisations like Remake are making to major issues such as the Climate Crisis.
A major skill I’ve developed during my brief time at Remake is communicating with people. Working with such incredible employees and volunteers has really helped me learn a lot about how to treat customers and how to interact with other volunteers. If there is one place where everyone is treated with respect and kindness, it’s Remake.
The community majorly benefits from Remake in so many different ways. Not only do people with donations get an opportunity to come to the scrapstore and socialise, learn a little more about local charities and engage with other members of the community but people buying from Remake benefit from brilliant materials and also can mingle while in the shop. The store is space where everyone feels welcomed.
For me, this was my first time working in a shop environment and I’m not scared to say that I was nervous that I’d struggle. But once I got the hang of what was expected from the jobs assigned to me I became much more comfortable. Through doing different tasks at Remake I learnt that, sometimes, I had to develop a new mind set. In these occasions getting the job done as efficiently as possible is the best strategy. I’m so glad that I’ve realised this as I know it will benefit me in later life.
Overall my time at Remake so far has been better than I could have hoped. The experience of meeting so many new people and learning so much is one that I’m sure will stay with me for a long time.