Catherine Stokes has been involved with EACH (East Anglia Children's Hospices) since 2016, and her son, Matthew, is now fundraising for the charity by running in the Cambridge Half Marathon.

Catherine's story

Catherine worked at Kloeber, a glazing solutions company who's headquarters are in Huntingdon.

EACH was Kloeber's selected charity while Catherine worked there, and she decided to become a fundraiser for them.

Catherine was invited by EACH to take a tour round one of the charity's hospices in Milton, Cambridgeshire.

EACH has three children's hospices in East Anglia. There is The Nook in Norfolk, The Treehouse in Suffolk and The Milton in Cambridgeshire.

Catherine's connection with EACH is also particularly strong as one of her friend's lost a granddaughter to Battens Disease, and she had a close relationship with the charity too.

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As Catherine became more passionate about EACH's work, she decided to leave Kloeber and continue her volunteering role with EACH.

What does Catherine do with EACH?

She's since worked as a volunteer for several different EACH events and has also worked in the EACH charity shops across Cambridgeshire.

Catherine began volunteering in the Whittlesey shop, then moved to the Huntingdon shop, and now volunteers at at the St Ives shop.

She volunteers two afternoons a week at the EACH charity shop and completes any task thrown at her. 

Catherine said: "I love working for EACH as they make you feel valuable, without volunteers they would not be able to continue the important work they do.

"I work with a super team who are all as passionate as me. 

"We all try to go above and beyond to make this shop successful. We get some amazing donations from the public."

What does Catherine mean to EACH?

Gill Partridge, manager for the St Ives EACH shop, said about Catherine: "Catherine is a very special, highly regarded and much-valued volunteer.

"People like her play such an invaluable role in all our shops and, quite simply, without volunteers, we wouldn't be able to function.

"They enable us to operate and therefore raise vital funds for the children and families receiving our care and support.

"I can't stress enough how grateful we are to all our brilliant volunteers and we're always keen to hear from more people who might be willing to join us. Anyone interested can pop in for a chat, email me via Gill.Partridge@each.org.uk or give me a call on 01480 270999."

Fundraising for EACH 'runs' in the family

Catherine's son, Matthew, is also involved with EACH. 

He'll be taking on his second half marathon on March 3, 2024, as he runs the Cambridge Half Marathon to fundraise for EACH.

Matthew began his running journey to help improve his mental health and well being, and ran his first half marathon at the Great Eastern Peterborough Run.

Like his mum, Matthew is working hard to raise the all-important funds for the East Anglia Children's Hospice charity. 

Matthew has set up a Just Giving page for people to donate ahead of his run. He's still over a month away from the Cambridge Half Marathon, but has already gone above his target.

Matthew's page can be found at https://www.justgiving.com/page/matthew-stokes-1697462322258

Volunteering at EACH

The charity is constantly on the lookout for volunteers to help with its cause. There a number of different volunteering roles to pick from at EACH.

Roles are available in the shop, at events, or even with families who are using EACH during an extremely tough time.

It's very clear that EACH rely on the hard-work and dedication from volunteers like Catherine.

 

Please send any volunteering stories to: francesca.herring@newsquest.co.uk