Yeun's volunteering story: making a fresh start

Yeun had been running her family’s takeaway business for years, but when her parents retired, Yeun realised she didn’t want to do what her parents had done - she didn’t want to work all day every day, and miss out on watching her child growing up. But she needed new experiences to move on.

“I started volunteering at Demelza because I wanted to get experience working in an office – doing paperwork at home for your family business is very different to doing paperwork in an office. A volunteer role came up in the Finance office, so I started doing a few hours. It was all very new – I’d write an email and be like, is this right?! What is Teams? But everyone was so nice and so helpful. I’m never scared to ask anything.

“The people are so friendly too – I’ll just be stood scanning things and people will walk by and say hi – even people who are really high-up always take the time to say hello, and make you feel important.”

So when the Finance Assistant role was advertised she knew she had to go for it.

“I grew up in Sittingbourne and Demelza has always been there, so I knew they looked after kids, but coming in I was like, wow you actually do so much more, it’s really impressive actually. You really get into it. When the job came up I knew I wanted to work for Demelza, because the vibe is so nice, I really like it.

“I still had to hit all the points to get the job, but from volunteering they knew me and they knew that if they tell me how to do something, I can do it. The first month when I got the job didn’t feel real – like oh I have an office job now, I work in finance!”

Now a Finance Assistant, Yeun works on Demelza’s income, using her money handling experience from running the family business to process donations.

“It’s really nice to see how much people donate. Recently an individual donated a huge amount of money – they had no association with us but they just like our cause and it’s so good to see. Even though it’s not my money it makes you feel nice, being part of this really kind donation.”

In just a few months, Yeun has gone from strength to strength, learning all the time and taking on more work wherever she can.

“I love the work, I’m really excited to take on more. I really like that I’m part of doing something good – it almost doesn’t feel like work, it’s not a chore, you just want to keep going. Before, I was working and you know, it’s busy, it’s my business, and I pocket the money, but now I see these donations come in and I can’t explain it… it’s just this really nice feeling.”

Now that Yeun has found her fresh start, the future is wide open.

“At the moment, I’m just happy where I am, learning my role, but who knows… ask me next year!”