Hazel Andersen first volunteered for Shelter Scotland as part of the ad-hoc Events team in Edinburgh in November 2023. The fundraising event was a dinner and cèilidh. ‘Myself and two other volunteers were greeters at the event, we helped set up the room and the raffle prizes – patrons had an excuse to get dressed up, have a lovely evening with friends and the money went to a good cause.’ After her positive experience with the events team, Hazel applied to be a Stories Volunteer, and she began this April.
Hazel will be interviewing volunteers in myriad functions across Shelter and Shelter Scotland and writing up their stories to appear in Volunteer News. The role appealed to her as a keen writer, but she is also looking forward to having ‘a chance to speak to new people and share their voices to inspire others.’
Like many, Hazel has been increasingly aware of the growing homelessness and insecure housing situation in the UK, especially in Edinburgh where she lives. She also had direct experience of the drain on both finances and quality of life which poor quality housing can create. A student flat she lived in (nicknamed ‘Chillygate’ by its tenants) ‘which was beautiful in lots of ways but extremely run down’ proved a financial burden to heat – especially with a window that simply would not close. Hazel was also drawn to Shelter Scotland because of its excellent reputation ‘It’s always important to know that you’re doing some work with a charity that is making a real impact.’
Social impact and outreach are important for Hazel. As well as her new role, she volunteers with
LINKnet Mentoring, a Scottish charity that offers mentoring support to minority ethnic communities in the south of Scotland, and is a committee member for the Meadows Festival Edinburgh—one of the UK’s largest community festivals. ‘I enjoy getting involved in different projects—my lifestyle is such that I am quite a busy person’. She is also an animal lover with a home aquarium containing more than 50 fish, and enjoys exploring the wild beauty of Holyrood Park and the many treasures offered by Edinburgh charity shops, ‘I’m a Charity shop fiend and I’m forever finding myself in Shelter Scotland shops.’
So why is it important that the stories and experiences of Shelter Scotland’s volunteers are told? Hazel thinks it’s vital that volunteer work is not only recognized but that experiences are shared. ‘My guess is that a lot of people won’t think that they have a story to share and one thing I hope to do is reach those people and show that whether you’ve got a big story or a small story, you have got value in what you bring as a volunteer.’ To anyone who might be thinking about sharing a story, she says, ‘Katie, my fellow Stories Volunteer, and I are here and we’re friendly people and we are going to make that space comfortable for anyone that wants to chat to us. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been volunteering a long time or if you’ve only done one hour—it all makes a difference and we’d love to speak to you and share more stories.’