Henrietta celebrates 42 years volunteering at Wellington charity shop
A Wellington woman is still going strong as a volunteer at a shop in the town – over four decades after she helped to open it.
Henrietta Noble, who is 86 years old and a great grandmother, was one of the founders of the Oxfam shop in Duke Street – the first charity retail outlet in the town – when it was launched in 1977.
She is still working there and her manager thinks she is possibly the longest-serving charity shop volunteer in Shropshire.
“Henrietta is amazing – she has been with us since day one, has served as our manager for 13 years and now still volunteers here at least one day a week,” said Vicky Turner, the current shop manager.
“We think she must be the longest-serving charity shop volunteer in the county,” she said.
Henrietta commented that she had loved every minute of her time working at the shop and had no intentions of retiring.
“I have made some great friends and seen lots of changes in Wellington over the years – I love the town,” she said.
A colleague at the shop, Becky Woolley, has won a national accolade for her volunteering efforts.
Becky, who is 19 and a student, started helping out three years ago and was nominated as Oxfam’s young person’s initiative award.
“I was really surprised to win but very pleased,” she said.
Manager Vicky stressed that the volunteers at her shop were a great team and they all deserved recognition for their endeavours.
“Ours is the oldest charity shop in Wellington, being based in the same building for 42 years, and in the last financial year our little business has raised a large amount in additional money through collections, our customers telling us to 'keep the change' and team donations.
She commented: “We have funded a number of initiatives through this, ranging from buying on-going clean water for 70 people to helping homeless people in the UK and paying for the education of a girl. We are very proud of our achievements.”
Oxfam in Wellington is also supporting the new Love Wellington campaign which is aiming to promote all the positive aspects of living and working in the town.
