Stuart, who has volunteered at Lyme for the past 5 years, is also a Courtesy Vehicle Driver for the shuttle buggy, and a Buildings Maintenance Volunteer
It was my wife, really… I’ve been retired 17 years now, so after 12 years, I think she wanted a bit of space at home! And we saw the advert for the Open Day and she said ‘Oh, why don’t you go and have a look and think about volunteering one day a week.’ So I came and I liked it so much. Then when the buggy stopped running in October I went to see Phil [the Estate Buildings Foreman] and I got on the Buildings team for the winter and I’ve been doing two days there ever since.
The winter job, it’s using my knowledge to be able to make a positive help to the National Trust, and I’ve found the people I work with are a really good solid team. We have a good laugh, I really enjoy it, and it gets me out. When you retire, you think, well, what can you do with your life and so you think, I’ll go give something back to a charity. And coming here is lovely. My wife calls it my second home!