Residents growing into retail specialists

Our housing pathway is unique. We not only offer an affordable, safe home, but also support, volunteering opportunities and training. Gradually, a young person can move at their own speed from volunteering at YMCA Exeter, to volunteering in Exeter city centre, to moving into paid employment. This process is invaluable, enabling young people who were previously homeless to regain their independence and learn new skills.

Sharon is the store manager at the British Heart Foundation in the centre of Exeter. We want to take a moment to highlight the fabulous role she’s played in helping some of our residents take the first big step into volunteering.

Sharon shares more about the experience for young people:

“Andy grew with confidence while he was volunteering with us. The last time I saw Andy was at a meeting with Sidwell Street residents about antisocial behaviour. It was good to see him taking on more of a role at YMCA Exeter. Aaron*, who used to work in the warehouse, he came in earlier to say hello – we’d have them all back any time they wanted to! We don’t mind people having to stop for a bit, we understand that life gets in the way and that’s ok. Jade currently works on the tills and books people in for furniture deliveries. It can be quite pressurised, but she copes really well with it.  

We accommodate lots of volunteers with additional needs and disabilities; they can bring their Support Worker with them if they need. We can make reasonable adjustments; anybody can try everything – if they don’t like it, we can move them to another department – it’s not a problem.  

It’s a really good opportunity for YMCA Exeter residents, the customer service experience looks good on the CV and it gets them out and about meeting people, and we really appreciate the volunteers a lot. Many of our volunteers have also gone on to become employees.  

We would definitely recommend other organisations taking on volunteers from YMCA Exeter, everybody has got something they can do and skills they can bring – you just have to give them a bit of time and nurturing.”  

If you are part of an organisation that could help our young people take that first step into volunteering, we’d love to hear from you. Please send an email to: office@ymcaexeter.org.uk