Volunteer Sheila’s seaside stay

6th June 2026

Hidden volunteer heroes

Our volunteers are a truly inspiring bunch. They selflessly give up their time to help others, rarely getting time themselves to relax and unwind.

So we were over the moon when one of our dedicated volunteers was awarded a special mini-break thanks to Room to Reward, a volunteer-recognition charity who offer UK based breaks for hidden heroes.

Sheila Eccleston, who lives in Hooe, has been volunteering for half a day every week on our reception at our specialist unit at Turnchapel for the last decade, having celebrated her 10 year anniversary in November last year. It was her unwavering dedication and kind-hearted nature that meant she was nominated for the reward.

Seaside break

Sheila, a retired office worker at John Kitto Community College said: “I love the variety of the role on reception and getting to meet so many different people and it extends my skills from my previous role at John Kitto.”

Sheila enjoyed a seaside break at Hoburne Blue Anchor Holiday Park near Minehead and despite the weather not cooperating she was able to explore the local area while trying out one of their onsite caravans.

Valued volunteers

Sheila said: “It was a lovely surprise to be told I had been nominated by St Luke’s for a reward for my volunteer role on reception here. Volunteers are so important to enable St Luke’s to deliver that care and support, going over and above for an organisation to sign up to Room to Reward and for my manager Jenny to nominate me really demonstrates how valued volunteers are to St Luke’s. Thank you!

“My husband Andrew and I spent a lovely long weekend at Blue Anchor Holiday Park near Minehead, in a sparkling and cosy caravan. Saturday was very cold and quite wet, so we spent the day exploring in the car and had a fascinating guided tour of the RNLI Lifeboat station in Minehead.

“On Sunday we were joined by our daughter Hannah and we’d booked Rover tickets on the West Somerset Steam Railway – a perfect way to see the beautiful countryside, with stops to explore in Bishop’s Lydeard and Minehead station. And on Monday we visited Dunster Castle and learnt lots of history about this lovely National Trust property.

“All in all, we packed a lot in, and I’m so grateful that we were lucky enough to enjoy this break – thank you to St Luke’s!”

Would you be interested in volunteering for St Luke’s?

Our volunteers are the backbone of our charity, always going above and beyond. If you would be interested in volunteering, then please get in touch as we have lots of roles available and would love to hear from you. Click here to find out more.

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