What's Happening in Kings Lynn, England…

A group of students from a college in Kings Lynn are gaining valuable work experience since volunteering to help out at a local charity shop.

Students from the Discovery Centre in Kings Lynn have been working with the local Sue Ryder charity shop as part of an education programme. All students on the programme are studying courses run by the College of West Anglia. The students have been gaining valuable life skills as part of a practical work experience programme that helps unemployed young people to develop themselves and to become more employable.

The students have been tasked with collecting items to sell, building up customer service skills, handling cash and creating marketing materials using techniques like flyer printing. Kings Lynn has been home to the Sue Ryder charity shop for almost 12 years and the shop makes around £35,000 each year for the charity that supports people with cancer, multiple sclerosis or who have been affected by strokes.

As well as gaining valuable skills to add to their own CVs, the group of students has also helped to contribute to the running of the charity shop, which normally relies on volunteers from the local community.

Paula Phillips is the manager of the Kings Lynn branch of the Sue Ryder shop. She has often expressed her interest in getting young people involved in charity work, so this partnership with the Discovery Centre has been a real opportunity to reach out to a new generation of volunteers – as part of a give and take partnership where both the charity and the participants benefit from getting involved.