Taking time to do good: One team member’s volunteer story
Linda Roads helps raise money for one of the UK’s biggest charity campaigns – and finds personal fulfillment in the process.
When her neighbor needed volunteers for a charity drive that he was helping coordinate, Linda Roads figured she could spare a couple of hours.
Twelve years later, she’s still committed to the cause.
Linda lives in the United Kingdom and works in finance for the Car Wash International group within Driven Brands, which operates under the IMO brand. Each year during the two weeks leading up to Remembrance Day in November – a day to honor those we’ve lost in military service – she volunteers with the Royal British Legion to raise funds for its annual Poppy Appeal campaign, which supports veterans and other members of the armed forces community.
As part of the lead-up to Remembrance Day, the Poppy Appeal includes wreath displays and other awareness activities that draw the participation of Legion volunteers all over the country. Schools, fire brigades, police forces, children’s clubs, politicians, businesses, and everyday citizens also join in the remembrance activities.
“It’s quite a big deal here,” Linda says.
When she first started volunteering, she took time on weekends to work her two-hour shift collecting funds around the town of Amersham, a London suburb. Shifts consist of volunteers setting up a collection pot and offering Remembrance Poppies – paper flowers that people typically pin to their clothing – along with badges and wristbands.
“People can donate and take whatever they wish to wear,” Linda says, adding that she loves the community-building aspects of the work. “It’s a very sociable thing to do, as well as a jolly good cause.”
The money raised supports active and former military service members in several ways, including assistance with living expenses, job placement, and rehabilitation services. Linda sees the big impact that she and other volunteers can make, in exchange for a few hours’ time.
“Which is nothing, isn’t it? That’s how I look at it anyway. Sitting in a supermarket with a little pot thanking people … I’d rather be doing that than sitting at home, to be quite honest.”
Over time, Linda’s involvement in the Poppy Appeal has grown. At the end of the campaign all the donations are counted and the volunteers thanked with postcards showing how much they collected. Linda began helping to tally up the donations a few years back. “Which I really enjoy because it appeals to my accounts brain,” she notes.
Not that she’s pulled back on collection work: last year's campaign was her busiest yet. Noticing that she had some extra leave time accumulated toward the end of the year, she told her neighbor (the same one, who himself has volunteered for the Legion for over 30 years) to put her down for “a half day here and a morning there and a day here.”
In all, she worked eight sessions collecting donations where she personally collected over £1,100 for the charity. Reflecting on the time she’s spend volunteering, Linda says she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“It’s an absolute privilege and pleasure.”