Volunteers Week 2022 - InFocus Charity, Exeter

If you follow InFocus’ work on the website or our social media channels then you’ll be aware of the expert staff of teachers, therapists, mobility and Braille experts, tutors in Access Technology, support workers, nurses and other professionals.

This week is #VolunteersWeek so we are shining a light on the unsung heroes of our charity.

Charity Shops

Our countless volunteers keep the wheels turning by helping us to run the charity shops and eBay store that support our fundraising.

The InFocus Charity Shops in Sidmouth, Honiton, and Exeter (Heavitree, Sidwell Street and Cowick Street) take unwanted clothes, bric a brac and other goods. They simply wouldn’t run without the local people who are passionate about supporting our charity.

Group of people dancing outside on the lawn with bunting in the background

Young lady posing in a charity shop where she's rearranging a display

Gardening and landscaping

InFocus has a large main site in Exeter as well as our Outdoor Learning Centre at West Hill in East Devon.

Both need a lot of TLC to keep them looking great, and ready for people with vision impairment to visit, learn and discover. Thank you to the volunteers who turn up week after week to give their time. They plant trees, weed, landscape, clear brambles, paint fences, build bridges and generally get stuck in! There’s a team of regular helpers who are there in all weathers, plus we have welcomed groups from businesses including Thomson Reuters, Launch, BNI City Wall (Exeter), the Royal Navy, King’s School (Ottery St Mary)

Pupils in school uniform holding gardening tools and standing in a line with 2 adults holding a giant cheque. All are outside in a forest.

Group of Royal Navy submariners in uniform posing underneath a timber structure in the countryside

We were honoured to help out for a day. And it taught us how much you can get done as part of a team.
Jaye Cowle, Launch

Exeter College Prince’s Trust Programme

Students from Exeter College’s outreach courses have been visiting InFocus (formerly WESC Foundation) for many years now. This has included people from the Prince’s Trust TEAM Programme as well as the Positive Pathways course.

They attend Outreach for a variety of reasons that are often around re-engaging with education and improving their chances to progress. Many attend specifically to improve their mental health.

These young people volunteer to deliver valuable outdoor projects across our main site on Topsham Road, which in turn free up our Estates team to deliver more specialist work.

“The opportunities and guidance Dylan provides for our students to learn new skills, interact with a new environment and challenge, and to gain a tangible sense of achievement are invaluable to us.

“Several students over the years have been inspired by their InFocus experience to follow a career in horticulture or care, and the vast majority of them have spoken of an improvement in their wellbeing and mental health from helping others and being outdoors in a beautiful place.”
Jamie Alcock, Exeter College