Volunteer Week: Celebrating a decade of dedication

June 2026

As part of Volunteers’ Week (1-7 June), we’re celebrating Stuart’s remarkable contribution to WAY. Since joining the charity after being widowed in 2013, Stuart has spent the past decade helping fellow WAY members connect, creating memorable events, and building a sense of community that continues to make a difference to people who’ve been widowed at a young age.

Ten years of bringing people together

Stuart stepped forward to become a WAY Trustee in 2016 after realising he could use his flair for organising events to help other members feel connected. Through holidays, weekends away and shared experiences, he has helped create spaces where friendships have formed and people have found lasting peer support.

Stuart stepped down as a Trustee in 2025 but, over the years, Stuart’s commitment has helped create countless moments of connection across the WAY community, including:

7 x PGL Holidays for around 420 people.
7 x Father's Day weekends at YHA National Forest for around 385 people.
2 x Center Parcs Holidays at Sherwood Forest in 2018 and 2019, bringing together around 300 current and ex-WAY members each year.
4 years of Scottish holiday weekends, where he hosted popular quiz and bingo nights.
Fundraised over £5,000 with the help of colleagues, raffle prizes from CrossCountry Trains, and taking part in two Dragon Boat races.

One of Stuart’s standout achievements in ten years as a WAY volunteer has been helping to organise events at Center Parcs, which brought together members from across the UK on a huge scale. While those larger gatherings came to an end when Covid arrived in 2020, many of the smaller events he supported, including PGL breaks, continue to bring members together today.

Keeping connection alive during the pandemic

When in-person events stopped in 2020, Stuart found another way to help members stay connected. Inspired by the online games and quizzes that kept him in touch with his own family, he launched online bingo sessions for WAY members, creating a regular space for fun, conversation and support during an incredibly difficult time.

That idea is still going strong today. Over the past six years, Stuart has helped deliver more than 450 virtual bingo nights. What began as two sessions a week on Sunday and Wednesday evenings later became a much-loved weekly Sunday tradition as life gradually moved offline.

According to Stuart, the bingo sessions bring together a mix of long-standing and newer members, all with different stories and circumstances. The meet ups offer more than just an hour of entertainment – they create a sense of belonging. Regular participants have built real friendships, offered each other peer support, and in some cases even met in person, despite living in different parts of the UK. Most weeks, between six and 12 people join the call, leaving with prizes of “nothing but fun”.

A shared effort behind the scenes

Stuart is also quick to recognise the people who helped make it all possible. He has thanked fellow volunteers Claire, Norman, Scott and Sharon for stepping in to host bingo sessions when he couldn’t and for the support they have given over the years. It’s a reminder that volunteering is often powered by teamwork as much as individual commitment.

Inspired to make a difference?

Volunteers’ Week is a chance to recognise the many ways people give their time to support others. Stuart’s story shows that volunteering doesn’t always have to mean doing something big – sometimes it’s about creating small moments of connection that have a lasting impact.

Stuart encourages anyone with an idea to get in touch with WAY at enquiries@widowedandyoung.org.uk and explore how it could become a reality:

“Volunteering is a great way to give back and make a difference,” he says.

As we celebrate Volunteers’ Week, Stuart’s decade of dedication is a powerful example of the difference one person can make.