Harry Hill gives a shift

Comedian Harry Hill worked the tills, sorted stock, made friends with staff and charmed customers when he volunteered at the Oxfam shop in Victoria London.

Give a Shift

The TV star is supporting Oxfam’s Give a Shift campaign, which encourages the public to volunteer in its shops.

People can volunteer at Oxfam shops for as little as two hours a week. All volunteers are assured of a warm welcome, an interesting, worthwhile experience and genuine appreciation of their support.

‘I volunteered to Give a Shift because I’m a fan of Oxfam. It’s out to put an end to injustice and poverty, which is very difficult to argue with.’

HARRY HILL
Comedian and Oxfam supporter

The benefits of volunteering

Oxfam shops rely on teams of volunteers to stay open. Last year, the network of 630 shops in the UK and the Oxfam Online Shop raised almost £22 million pounds for the charity’s work fighting extreme poverty and suffering in more than 60 countries around the world.

Research shows volunteering is not only a worthwhile way to spend your spare time for a good cause – it benefits the volunteer, too. Studies conducted on behalf of Oxfam revealed volunteering increases social networks and improves job prospects.

Harry agrees; ‘If you’re putting together a CV, volunteering will look great on that. And you get lots of experiences you wouldn’t otherwise get in life’, he said.

‘Every week, one volunteer giving a shift could raise enough money to give two people clean drinking water in Ethiopia. Or to provide one woman in Bangladesh with access to a safe bathing cubicle. Or to train six farmers in climate resilient farming techniques in Ghana.

‘Of course, each volunteer is different and contributions vary. But what they all have in common is they are amazing, generous people who make the world a fairer, kinder place.’

DANIEL O’DRISCOLL
Oxfam’s head of volunteering