Volunteers' Week 2020

Meet our volunteer, Laura, who cooks breakfast with our hostel clients.

I’m Laura and I’m 32 years old. I got into volunteering with Arc because I wanted to give something back.

When I was 19 and pregnant I found myself in a position where I was homeless. I moved into a homeless shelter for families when I was 8 months pregnant and it was the first home for my new born son.

We have come a long way in 13 years but I feel eternally grateful that when I needed the help of a charity supporting those without a home, I found the help I needed.

10 years after living in a homeless shelter I opened my own business; OD Talent Solutions. I found that I was then in a position where I could have full control over my working hours and diary and so at the end of last year I approached Arc to see if I could fulfil their volunteer vacancy on a Friday morning to teach the clients how to cook breakfast recipes – I have always found solace in cooking and its been wonderful to work with the clients to help them to learn recipes that I hope at some point will bring them a bit of joy too. We have been able to involve the local business community too as they have sponsored the cooking ingredients for our sessions.