For the last nine months STEPS volunteer Paula Colborne has been donating her time and expertise in an administration role.

After working 30 years in administration, Paula retired 5 years ago and started looking for volunteer work that might suit her.

“I’d been looking at volunteer sites for a while but unfortunately they never seemed to involve admin work but then this position came up,” Paula said.

She said it’s fantastic what STEPS is doing.

“By volunteering with STEPS two to three days a week I feel that I am not only supporting a great cause but contributing to the community generally.”

Paula said she enjoys researching and data entry because she likes to keep busy but jokes that not everyone enjoys working for hours on a computer.

“I’m happy to work. I like doing this work. It gives me satisfaction, it makes me feel useful,” she said.

“I like that I can come in and there is always something to do.”

Paula said STEPS is a wonderful place to volunteer and the best part of her job is working with friendly people.

“They’re lovely people here and they try to keep the work varied and interesting.”

Paula said Charity Manager Angela Miles is someone she is glad to have met.

“Ange is really passionate about what she does. I can see she works well with volunteers and she’s never too busy to talk to you.”

Another added bonus for Paula is the beautiful grounds here, she said it makes it a really pleasant place to work.

“They even have a nursery here where I’ve been able to buy plants for my own garden”.

When Paula is not volunteering she is spending time with her family. Married for 36 years, Paula and her husband Graeme have two sons David and Chris. Chris and his wife have a three-year-old daughter, Becky, who is fluent in both Hungarian and English. Paula likes to spend a couple of days a week with her granddaughter and said she is “the light of my life”.

Want to donate your time and help us build brighter futures? STEPS has a range of volunteer positions available.

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