Volunteer week 2025
2 June 2025
The dedication and passion of our volunteers make everything we do possible. This week, 2 - 8 June, we are celebrating our incredible volunteers.
Whether you were welcomed with a smile at the gate, have paused to admire the beauty of the gardens, followed a magical trail, joined in a children’s event or tucked into a tasty treat from the tea rooms – the chances are, one of our wonderful volunteers helped make it happen.
Everything we do is touched by their time, care and dedication. Thank you to all our volunteers, we really could not do it without you.
Here are Ann and Jackies stories.
Ann: Volunteering as a Welcome Host
Meet Ann! One of our lovely Welcome Hosts at Furzey Gardens who does a fabulous job of greeting our visitors!
Ann says, ‘I have been volunteering at Furzey Gardens for about 5 years now. I really enjoy being outside and volunteering at the entrance welcome hut. We greet our visitors, check tickets, hand out maps and answer questions about the garden. We also sell plants too!
Visitors are always very appreciative of the work that we do, and it gives me a wonderful opportunity to talk to people from all walks of life, from across the UK and abroad. They love to come and explore Furzey’s hidden secrets and seek out the Fairy Doors.
I can’t think of a better way to help Minstead Trust. I’ve met lovely people, and join in with the volunteers’ socials for coffee and a catch up at the café.
I’m greatly looking forward to seeing the changes in the garden this year and welcoming even more visitors!’
Jackie: Volunteering as a Welcome Host and Tea Room Support
Meet Jackie! One of our fabulous Furzey Gardens Volunteers who greets our visitors upon arrival and helps in our Tea Rooms too.
Jackie says, ‘After sadly losing my husband of nearly 30 years and then my father-in-law only a couple of months later, I decided at the start of 2022 that it was time to give up paid employment and enjoy life a bit! I was still seeking the need to get up for something, coupled with a desire to meet new people, and so I decided to start volunteering. I am now involved with a number of organisations, but joined Minstead Trust and the Furzey Gardens Welcome and Tea Room team in the summer of 2023.
Since then, volunteering at Furzey has provided me with friendship, laughter and fun! I know that my time spent there is not only helping the gardens and wider Trust, but it is so good too for my own mental health and wellbeing; it has given me a purpose and provides the companionship I need since losing my husband. Whether I am washing up, clearing tables, helping on the till or meeting and greeting visitors at the entrance gate, I always feel appreciated and know that no job I do is too small – every job is important.
The staff and volunteers at the Trust are all so welcoming and friendly and I really feel like part of the ‘Minstead family’! It is a fantastic charity to be involved with and the support and opportunities they provide for people with learning disabilities is amazing. At 57 I hope to have many more years of volunteering ahead of me, many of which I know will be spent supporting Minstead Trust.”