Peter Batt, a Saint Francis Hospice trustee, shares his perspective as a volunteer

It has been a year like no other and trying to balance my role as a trustee at Saint Francis Hospice with leading 930 shops for the Co-op has been a challenge with both roles supporting key workers.

I have been a trustee at the hospice for six years and have learnt more in the past 10 months than in the five years before. It has been enabling all of our directors to be the leaders our teams need and want us to be.

I am so proud of how the hospice team has led the change with technology and working differently to deliver what the colleagues and patients require whilst at all times ensuring safety is the primary concern.

The hospice survival and foundations for the future is paramount and it has been difficult to feel we are sometimes making a difference when not meeting in person.

Mental wellbeing has been the main support and enabling others to have the psychological safety of sharing how they feel with others and being listened to has been a priority of mine.

The hospice leadership team have been world class in their support in this area.

My other focus has been through the retail shops with my background helping the Saint Francis Hospice retail director with store visits to the Co-op and highlighting the plans and safety measures put in place so we can maximise the length of time the shops are open and following the appropriate guidelines.

The transparency of information is so important and through empowering Saint Francis Hospice colleagues, we have achieved so much more together.

I am so proud of how we have all worked closely and listened to as many ideas as possible in this new way of working and tried to take communication to a new level. It has been so different not being able to visit in person and it has made us all think about how we can be more productive and use our skills in more beneficial ways.

We have all positively embraced the change and helped others to do the same and I believe some of the new ways of working we will never change.

I would like to thank everyone at the hospice for being brave, kind and resilient and am so proud to be associated with an organisation I would love others to learn more about.

Please continue to support Saint Francis Hospice in any way you can. To find out more visit sfh.org.uk