Cobalt Healthcare Cheltenham & Gloucestershire Skip to primary naivgation Skip to content Donate

A volunteering role that truly counts

Cheltenham, Fundraising, Supporters
News Archive

27th July 2018

We met for a chat with Colin Ralph who volunteers for our fundraising team. Colin works alongside Linda who is our Database Gift Administrator in the Fundraising Team. The pair oversee the management of the collection tins for Cobalt. There are around 170 collection tins in circulation at any given time.
Colin moved to Cheltenham from London in 1966 and worked for Eagle Star as an accountant until taking early retirement in 1993. We talk to him about what it is like to be a Cobalt volunteer and what his role includes.

Tell us a little about yourself and how you came to volunteer with Cobalt
I joined as a volunteer for Cobalt in the January of 1994. I was looking for some volunteer work after retirement. I joined Cotswold Hospital Radio and then I saw an advert in the local paper asking for volunteers at Cobalt sorting Christmas cards.
I knew nothing about the charity before I came here. I was a volunteer for Insight (formerly Gloucestershire County Association for the Blind) and am now a hospital volunteer.
In my spare time I am involved with Gotherington Cricket Club. I’ve been a member there for a number of years. I also sit on the schools admissions appeal panels, hearing the appeals and helping make the decisions.
Cobalt is a very worthy charity to support. However, a lot of people don’t realise it’s a charity. When I first joined, the services Cobalt provided were much less than they are now. Cobalt are doing so much, particularly in the area of dementia.

What’s a typical mornings’ work for you?
I arrive in the morning and meet up with Linda who is the Database Gift Administrator in the fundraising team. We gather in all of the coin collection tins and sort the contents through a specialist coin counting machine. It’s a great big contraption that does the job for us and sorts the coins into different denominations. The contents of each collecting tin is counted up. It is then bagged up for banking. We then have to make a record as to how much that person, group or organisation has collected. Linda then notifies the supporters, if they want her to, of how much was there. Some people just ask for an annual notification. It is then all brought together for banking.

Would you agree that volunteering is a great excuse to get out and meet people?
I meet some of the other volunteers annually through the card sorting. There’s a good team who come in. They are a good crowd. Volunteering is a great means of filling your time. If you are retired you might think, well what am I going to do? I did have my garden but I didn’t feel I could fill my time gardening 12 months of the year! You’ve got to go out and do something, especially if you are on your own. Tuesdays and Saturdays are the only days I don’t do something.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve found in a collection tin?
Parking tokens and a 10p coin with a hole drilled through the middle of it!

If Colins’ story inspires you then come and have a chat with us about volunteering opportunities here at Cobalt. Contact Kirsty on kirsty.bradbury@cobalthealth.co.uk

Next
Share Share

Get involved

There are so many ways to get involved and raise money for Cobalt.

Get involved

Donate

Help raise money with fundraising events, collections, one of donations, and more.

Find out more

Contact us

For more information about raising money for Cobalt please email our fundraising team on fundraising@cobalthealth.co.uk

Contact the fundraising team
  • Previous
  • Next
  • Patients
    • Patient Info
    • Cobalt Imaging Centre Tour
    • Scan Prices
    • Rapid Access Clinics
    • Your Results
    • Diagnostic Scans
    • Useful Contacts for Patients
    • Clinical Quality Assurance
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Become a Friend of Cobalt
  • Medical Professionals
    • Referring Your Patients
    • GP MRI & CT Referrals
    • Diagnostic Scans
    • Useful contacts for medical professionals
    • Education
    • Research
    • MRI Training Programme
  • Cobalt
    • Our management team
    • Our Trustees
    • Contact
    • Latest News
    • About Us
    • Our History
    • Downloads
    • Careers
    • Testimonials
  • Support Us
    • PET/CT Equipment Campaign
    • Make a Will Month
    • Coffees that count
    • Photography competition
    • Become a Friend of Cobalt
    • Cobalt Greetings Cards Online
    • Making a Donation
    • Latest News
    • Volunteering
    • Sign up
Our work relies on your donations so get involved and help us make a difference.
Donate

Address

Cobalt
Linton House Clinic
Thirlestaine Road
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL53 7AS

Contact

Phone: 01242 535900
Email: enquiries@cobalthealth.co.uk

Address

Cobalt
Linton House Clinic
Thirlestaine Road
Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
GL53 7AS

Contact

Phone: 01242 535900
Fax: 01242 535919
Email: enquiries@cobalthealth.co.uk

MRI Phone: 0800 138 7201
PET/CT Phone: 0800 138 7202

Support Us

Fundraising: 01242 535922
Email: fundraising@cobalthealth.co.uk

Cobalt Health, a Registered Charity No. 1090790
Company limited by guarantee, registered in England no. 4366596
Registered office: Linton House Clinic, Thirlestaine Road, Cheltenham, Glos GL53 7AS

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. Click accept to continue exploring or find out more in our cookie policy. Read More Accept Reject
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT