Eamonn O’Neal, broadcaster and next High Sheriff of Greater Manchester, on volunteering at Caritas

Volunteers are vital to the work we do at Caritas.   

We can only continue to support thousands of people across Greater Manchester and Lancashire thanks to the more than 260 volunteers who selflessly give their time to help us. 

Here, broadcaster, and the next High Sheriff of Greater Manchester (2024-2025), Eamonn O’Neal, who volunteers as a trustee of our charity, talks more about his recent day volunteering at our Cornerstone Centre and helping with our van deliveries – and about the wider benefits of volunteering too… 

As part of the Greater Manchester Lieutenancy, I am in a privileged position to meet many amazing volunteers in my day-to-day work.  I’ve also interviewed many over the years as a broadcaster and journalist.  What always strikes me is, it’s not just the organisations that people volunteer for that benefit from these selfless acts.  It’s the huge amount of satisfaction, new skills, sense of achievement and community spirit that the volunteers also speak of. 

People volunteer for many reasons.  As a volunteer myself, I know first-hand that there are lots of different things that can motivate individuals to donate a few – or in some cases many – hours of their time to help others.  As well as reaching out into their communities and meeting new people, volunteers gain a breadth of new skills, have the opportunity to share their own experiences and knowledge with others, and build networks beyond their existing ones too. 

Most importantly, their volunteering really does impact lives.  And that is something I hear about regularly at Caritas Salford.  Local people are able to transform their lives for the long-term thanks to the support of Caritas staff and volunteers.  The effects of that both on the individuals and on the wider community can’t be underestimated.  It can be truly transformational. 

I recently spent time with the team at Caritas’s Cornerstone Centre which supports people experiencing homelessness or at risk of becoming homeless.  It was a fantastic opportunity and I really enjoyed spending time with the experts there, learning more about their daily work and finding out more about how people give their time. 

Volunteers there support with a whole range of duties, from chatting to people who access the service to preparing and serving food; helping with activities or social events to sorting donations.  I also helped out with van deliveries – the teams are often in need of more drivers to help out so please do get in touch if you’re able to help… 

Like all Caritas volunteering roles, the Cornerstone team is supported every step of the way, and the volunteers are encouraged to share their own motivations and experiences so that both they and the charity get the most out of every day they help. Even a small amount of time pledged to volunteering is hugely helpful and makes a big difference. 

We’re all guilty of wasting hours doing things that don’t always matter too much or aren’t too effective – scrolling our phones or staring at a TV screen.  While it’s not bad to do those things, imagine if just a couple of those hours were channelled into something that really made a difference?  Something that was also satisfying and gave a real sense of achievement.  It’s not a difficult decision if we start to think about it like that… 

There are lots of ways people can get involved in volunteering, including van driving, helping in our services in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, supporting individual departments and teams, acting as Caritas parish representatives or advocating for accessibility locally.  You can find out more about the wide range of different opportunities available on our website and apply if there’s a role you’d like to try too. 

There are also corporate or team volunteering days available.  Find out more here.

Do get in touch with Matt from Caritas if you have any questions or are thinking about volunteering, he’s always happy to have an informal chat so you can find out more: volunteering@caritassalford.org.uk 

Thanks again to everyone who donates their time to support Caritas Salford’s work.  It’s really appreciated not only by the teams in the organisation, and the trustees too, but also by the people who access our services.  Whether they’re experiencing acute crisis and need immediate support, or if they’re changing their life for the long-term, the support volunteers give to help them do that is invaluable. 

Thanks very much for all you do.