Can you tell us more about your role?
“I manage everything to do with our Little Lifts Boxes from ordering stock to managing hospital partnerships and the Kindness Fund. From keeping track of how many people we have supported to ordering stationary. I also love a spreadsheet. Budgeting, finance, logistics…” (Kay literally does it all).
How has it been watching and being a part of Little Lifts growing?
“I started volunteering at Little Lifts in 2018, then started working part time and have now been full time for about four years. As the charity has grown my role has changed dramatically in order to help our small charity to get bigger and support more and more people.”
What was a day like when you first started compared to now?
“When I first started it was Oa and me in her house, with Norma snoring in the background of course (not everything has changed!). Oa and I packed all of the Boxes and we had one hospital partnership. Between us we did everything. We even organised our first ball when we were still working from Oa’s house which was really big and amazing. Five years later, here we are in an office with 5 separate rooms, 5 members of staff, an apprentice, 9 hospital partnerships, our beloved van ‘Joy’, over 7,900 Boxes delivered and over 20 volunteers generously giving up their time on a regular basis. Things have changed a lot.”
In typical Kay fashion she immediately pulls up a spreadsheet to compare numbers… The first full year Little Lifts delivered 254 Boxes which were only chemotherapy. There were three hospital partnerships in place. In our fifth year (and we are not finished) we have delivered over 3,700 thanks to nine hospital partnerships, our Little Kindness Fund and our partnership with Make 2nds Count.
Stand out moments for you?
So, I did a surprise thousandth Box celebration for Oa, which is funny considering just over two years later we are now at nearly 8,000! This was in August 2020 so it was outside and socially distanced, it’s crazy to think what we managed to do despite the pandemic. Then it was a massive deal, but it shows how much we have grown and now completely surpassed that.
There’s been so many big milestones, obviously the first hospital partnership was a biggie but getting into Suffolk and Essex was also a big step. It meant we were reaching out of our county which is massive for us. It shows we have been successful enough to commit to future funding for those new partnerships and it opens up the possibility of supporting so many more people.
How does it make you feel?
Proud, emotional. It’s always slightly bittersweet as it’s another person that has been diagnosed, but I am so happy that our actions mean they have additional support they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
Reflections?
I think the reason that I love working here is because if you’ve had a hard day, you know that every single thing you are doing makes a difference to some else’s life. It makes it all worthwhile.
We say we are small but mighty and it is true, every single person brings so much to what they’re doing. We are a small team but the impact we are able to make is truly amazing.
What I’m going to miss is that support network in the office – coming into the office and feeling that everyone is there for each other. I have absolutely no doubt that whilst I’m off things will continue to grow and thrive and more and more people will receive our support. It will be interesting to see how the charity develops whilst I’m not here.
How are you feeling about your time away?
It’s daunting but also really exciting. I think because I have been part of Little Lifts from the beginning developing all the processes and procedures, it’s going to be really weird not being at work. At the same time, I’m having another exciting adventure which is going to be life changing and I’m just excited to see what happens in the future.
But don’t worry I will be back. There is no question about that.
A note to the team?
You are all capable of far more than you think you are. Remember to believe in yourselves and have confidence in your abilities.
