'We fell in love volunteering at our Tamworth Oxfam'
Working at their local Oxfam shop led to true love for two of the store's volunteers.Susan and James Boyles met while staffing the charity's Tamworth store, got engaged in the shop's back room and posed outside it for wedding photos.They have shared their story to mark Volunteers' Week and want to encourage others to give their time to help others."I have made some lifelong friends from volunteering as well as my husband and I can't ask for a lovelier group of people to work with every day," Mrs Boyles said.
"I'm very bad at picking up on signals," said Mr Boyles. "Susan had been talking to me on the till but I didn't think it was anything at first."The 24-year-old begun volunteering in 2017 before meeting his wife-to-be, 43, in 2022.Their relationship grew after the pair went to watch the Barbie movie at the cinema together. Just one year later, the 24-year-old got down on one knee and proposed to her inside the shop.
"I knew he was going to propose but I didn't know when or where, so it was a surprise," Mrs Boyles said."I could never have imagined meeting James when I first started volunteering for Oxfam. "It's like a dream come true."The bride added that she had found the experience worthwhile due to meeting so many people. "I have never met anyone unpleasant volunteering with Oxfam," she said. "It sounds corny but it really is like a little family and it's so rewarding.
Oxfam, which was founded in 1942, currently has 23,000 volunteers at 560 shops in the UK. Karen Gurney, volunteer development manager at the charity, said she hoped the story would encourage others to help it raise funds to tackle poverty. "There are so many reasons why people come to volunteer, whether it is to gain skills, make friends or give back to the community," she said. "But the real joy with volunteering is that there is so much you can get out of it, even things you might never expect." Volunteers' Week 2025 began on Monday.
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