St Luke’s Hospice

Giving time, is the best gift of all

St Luke’s Hospice in Sheffield is the newest Project Choice partner in Sheffield, and has hosted 6 Interns this term in both their charity shop, eBay service and distribution centre.

St Luke’s is a charity that provides care and support to people over 18 with a terminal illness. They have over 200 employees and over 700 volunteers that work across their services and retail charity shops. All the proceeds and donations to the charity go towards running in patient care for people with both long term and short term health care needs.

St Luke’s is one of the newest Project Choice Partners in Sheffield and took their first placement Interns in September 2021.

St Luke’s cannot run our shops without our volunteers and any support is helpful. With Interns coming in 4 days a week, they get the experience, grow and uphold our values and behind the scenes, the shop cannot run without them.” A number of the Interns have chosen to continue with their placements at St Luke’s over the Christmas break, as volunteers. Time is the best gift to any charity at this time of year.

Leah Smith, Volunteer Coordinator at St Luke’s has welcomed Interns from Project Choice. “What drew us to the program was the support that Project Choice gives to the interns. We want to be able to support people with additional needs, but we know that our service can be busy and it was so great to know that the extra support is there if we and the intern needed it. The ‘Job coach’ role was music to our ears.”

The students complete tasks like sorting items, pricing, stocking and managing shelves and customer service. The store managers have all commented on how rewarding it has been to see the young interns change and grow with confidence. When the Interns started, some interns would only speak when spoken too and would not go out onto the shop floor, now 8 weeks in, the interns are talking to customers and getting more involved.

Leah Smith stated that they are so grateful for Project Choice and that other businesses should “Just try it. The help, the growth and the support from Project Choice is all worth.