Thank you – CPSL Mind celebrates Volunteers’ Week

Volunteers have always been a key part of our organisation. This Volunteers’ Week, we would like to thank all our volunteers for sharing their invaluable skills to help our communities tackle mental health challenges.

What is Volunteers’ Week?

It is a chance to thank our volunteers for their services to the community and it’s an opportunity to encourage others to think about volunteering.

How will we celebrate?

Here at CPSL Mind, we have more than 37 volunteers and 10 trustees who share their skills and passions towards promoting positive mental health. Throughout 2023-2024 over 2,000 hours of support has been given to us from our amazing volunteers (including Trustees). To thank our volunteers for their incredible contribution, we will be personally sending a thank you postcard to all of our wonderful volunteers.

Laura Breakwell, Volunteer Manager at CPSL Mind, said,

“I am in a truly privileged position — I get to meet all of our volunteers, hear their stories, and learn what inspires them to give their time and unwavering support to CPSL Mind. Each story is unique, but all share a common thread: a deep commitment to making a difference.

Our volunteers play an essential role in our organisation in so many ways — from helping to guide us toward success, to sharing lived experiences of trauma, to offering support and hope to others who are struggling. Often, they don’t realise just how much they’re helping in those moments. But their presence, empathy, and encouragement can be life-changing.

The dedication our volunteers show doesn’t always come in grand gestures — more often, it’s found in the quiet, consistent acts of compassion. It’s through these everyday contributions that real, lasting change takes root in our communities.

We are endlessly grateful for every single one of them.”

Why volunteer?

Volunteering gives a chance to devote your skills and time to help your local community. It is a great opportunity to connect with local people and use the skills you have and develop new ones. Find out more about volunteer opportunities or to join us as a Trustee at CPSL Mind or contact kayleigh.paske@cpslmind.org.uk.

Volunteering with CPSL Mind

Our volunteers have shared their experiences at CPSL Mind. One of our volunteer shares how it helped them develop their skills:

“I have found volunteering with CSPL Mind allows me to maintain my existing skills, while perhaps learning new ones. In addition, I am benefiting from being part of a ‘team’ (and wider community) with the satisfaction I am (albeit indirectly) helping people improve their quality of life. This all, of course, helps me maintain my own wellbeing. The projects are not always within my comfort zone, but I feel supported and suitably supervised to ‘have a go’.”

Some of our volunteers said it helped with their mental health as well:

“It has helped me enormously with my mental health giving me a sense of purpose once again. I always enjoy helping others as best I can.”

“Volunteering helps to improve my wellbeing and get a true sense of achievement being involved in the great work that CPSL Mind does.”

One of our volunteers also expressed how it helped with developing and promoting positive mental health:

“Volunteering with CPSL Mind has allowed me to get a bit of something positive out of my traumatic experiences in that I can use what I’ve learned from them to help others. It’s also given me a space where I can feel respected, valued and that I have a voice, which is really important for my mental health.”

Helping others and listening

Teresa and David Barker have both been supporting CPSL Mind in their volunteering roles for three years. For Teresa, it is the friendships that she’s made and the rewarding nature of the role that she loves. Our volunteers use their own lived experiences to help others and provide a confidential safe space for people.

A Teresa explains, “For me, it’s anybody who’s lost a parent, especially a mother because I can speak from that experience. So, I’ve had that conversation to help. Our role is to be a listening ear and if we can just be that for people then I feel as though it is worthwhile.”

Hattie’s Story

“As an organisation, CPSL Mind has been nothing but welcoming and accepting and I cannot thank them enough for the support and opportunities I have received over the years helping me grow both personally and professionally. I am very pleased to say I have gone from a service user to volunteer and to now an employee!” You can read Hattie’s story here.