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- Mary’s story
- Nessy’s story
- Linda’s story
- Colin and Sue's story
- Neil’s story
- Hilary’s story
- Kate’s Oxfam legacy
Kate at her home in London. Credit: Andy Oxley/Oxfam
Kate’s Oxfam legacy
From an Oxfam shop volunteer to serving as a trustee, Kate’s support for Oxfam has spanned decades. And now she’s retired, she’s back where it all began – her local Oxfam shop. Kate is also leaving a gift in her Will to Oxfam, to ensure she stays in the fight for a fairer world.
My connection to Oxfam
"I signed up to volunteer half a day a week at the local Oxfam shop. The staff member responsible for the group of shops I was working in was a very, very inspirational character. She not only trained me in how to run an Oxfam shop properly but in a few weeks, she had persuaded me to become the volunteer shop manager. She also taught me a lot about Oxfam’s work overseas and its approach to development. She had been overseas herself and I could hear directly from her about the difference that Oxfam made to peoples’ lives.
I grew more and more interested in the organisation and in addition to running the shop I started doing additional activities such as running fundraising events and I set up a local campaigning group."
Kate volunteers at her local Oxfam shop. Credit: Andy Oxley/Oxfam
"I originally said I would take a year off before going back to work, in the end it was 10. I was getting a lot of satisfaction in what I was doing for Oxfam. I felt I was making a genuine contribution doing my tiny bit towards trying to make the world a better place.
But now I am back almost where I started, working as a volunteer in the Oxfam shop in Wimbledon village, where I was a volunteer manager in the late 1980s and early 1990s."
"Some volunteers here in the shop I know from back in the late 80s when I was volunteering. There are people volunteering in the shop who have been there since 1987."
Why Oxfam?
"During your lifetime you may not be in a financial position to make a substantial gift but leaving a legacy in your Will gives you a real opportunity to do so.
I have talked to my children about why I have left a legacy to Oxfam. I’ve explained why it is important to me and they respect that. I still have that sense of trust that the money would be well spent by Oxfam and will make a real difference."