Retail, Reimagined: How Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice Simplified Volunteer Management

Overview 

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice is based in Huddersfield and supports children with life-shortening conditions, as well as their families. Alongside its specialist hospice care, the charity is powered by a dedicated community of volunteers who give their time across a wide range of roles, from hospice reception, gardens, care and family support teams, to charity shops, fundraising events, and corporate volunteering. 

We caught up with Rebecca, Retail Volunteer Development Officer at Forget Me Not, who works closely with volunteers across the charity’s retail and community settings. 

With volunteers spread across multiple locations and teams, keeping everything running smoothly is essential. Read how the team at Forget Me Not transformed their complex, paper-heavy volunteer management process into a streamlined, engaging experience using Volunteero.

Before Volunteero

Before switching to Volunteero, volunteer management at Forget Me Not relied on a patchwork of systems. An old CRM database sat alongside spreadsheets, paper documents, OneDrive folders, and a shared volunteer inbox.

This created challenges at every stage of the volunteer journey:

• Slow, manual onboarding: Applications landed in a central inbox and weren’t always seen straight away, sometimes creating weeks-long delays between someone applying and starting 

• Disconnected team and data: With staff spread across the hospice, shops, and remote locations, alongside volunteer information stored across multiple systems, keeping records accurate and communication aligned was time-consuming and extremely difficult

• Paper-based processes: Emergency contacts, rotas, and training records were often stored on paper at individual locations, meaning staff sometimes had to travel just to access key information

• Time-heavy admin and limited insights: Logging volunteer hours took several hours each month and was done by location rather than by individual, making it impossible to give volunteers meaningful feedback on their personal impact.

• Complex corporate volunteering and missed feedback: Organising corporate groups was overcomplicated and difficult to track, and collecting consistent exit feedback from volunteers and corporate groups was a challenge.

What should have been time spent supporting volunteers and families was instead eaten up by admin, duplication, and slow processes.

The Volunteero Solution

A Faster and More Connected Onboarding Process.

With Volunteero, Forget Me Not has dramatically simplified the volunteer onboarding process. Application forms are now visible instantly to all relevant staff, and clear application processes mean everyone can see what steps have been completed and what’s still outstanding. 

As Rebecca explains, “Volunteer onboarding is significantly quicker as all relevant staff can see application forms immediately”. Assigning clear steps to the process has also “considerably reduced the number of emails and phone calls between staff”. 

As a result, volunteers can now be onboarded in just a few days, eliminating weeks of waiting, cutting down internal emails and phone calls, and removing the need for a ‘middleman’ between teams. In 2025 alone, Forget Me Not received 753 volunteer applications, a volume that would have been extremely difficult to manage without a centralised platform like Volunteero. 

Department managers can now manage their own applications directly, which has not only saved time but has also contributed to a noticeable increase in volunteer numbers since rolling out Volunteero in mid-2024.

Goodbye Paperwork, Hello Real-Time Data

One of the biggest wins for the team at Forget Me Not? Moving away from paper-based systems. Emergency contact forms, training confirmations, and volunteer records are now all stored securely in one central platform. 

As Rebecca shares, “We’ve been able to remove paper documents, including emergency contact forms”, reducing risk and saving valuable time. Volunteers can update their own contact details via the app, ensuring information stays accurate without adding to the admin workload. 

If a shop needs to close unexpectedly or a shift changes, staff can notify volunteers instantly using Volunteero’s chat and notification features, no WhatsApp groups or scattered emails required. “Conversations are now secure and in one place”, Rebecca adds, helping communication feel more organised and personal. 

Centralised, live data has also made a real difference day-to-day. “Centralised electronic data has resulted in much quicker problem solving when assisting staff and volunteers”, Rebecca explains. 

Self-Logged Hours and Clear Impact

Volunteer hours are now logged directly in the Volunteero app, saving significant staff time across the organisation. Many volunteers log their own hours independently, and for those who need support, staff can add hours in just a few clicks. “Staff time has reduced significantly in logging hours as many volunteers now log their own hours on the app”,  says Rebecca.

The impact has been huge. In 2025 alone, volunteers at Forget Me Not contributed an incredible 44,357 hours of time, which is equivalent to over five years and seven months of volunteering. One particularly dedicated volunteer logged over 1,500 hours in a single year!

With everything tracked automatically, the team can now see who’s active, where support is needed, and pull detailed reports in seconds. “We now have better data insights, and pulling from reports is significantly quicker”, Rebecca adds, all without relying on the dreaded spreadsheet.

Motivated Volunteers and Strong Engagement

Volunteero has also helped Forget Me Not better engage and motivate its volunteer community. In 2025, 88% of volunteers joined a mission, showing strong, active participation across roles. 

One standout feature has been badges. Since using Volunteero, 3,266 badges have been awarded to volunteers based on their activity. According to Rebecca, “we’ve had lots of positive feedback from volunteers about how the badges help them stay motivated and feel appreciated”. She adds, “This will help our volunteer retention rates, as well as inspire other people to volunteer with us”. 

Volunteers can also easily express interest in other opportunities within the charity at the click of a button, making it far easier to encourage involvement across teams and locations.

Looking Ahead

Forget Me Not Children’s Hospice continues to build on the success of its volunteer programme. Next steps include further staff training on advanced Volunteero features, giving volunteer managers even more autonomy and reducing admin across additional departments. 

The team also plans to expand volunteering opportunities within their care and family support teams, ensuring volunteers remain at the heart of the hospice’s work. 

As Rebecca puts it, “Volunteero has provided a centralised platform to view and manage all volunteers, a true one-stop shop that makes the volunteering process streamlined and efficient.” With the right tools in place, Forget Me Not has created a volunteer programme that is not only easier to manage but more rewarding for everyone involved.

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