This is the transcript for an episode of our podcast, That Cancer Conversation. You can listen to the episode here

Jacob (narrator) 

Hi, and welcome to That Cancer Conversation with me, Jacob Smith.  

Here at Cancer Research UK, we’re grateful to benefit from the support of over 25,000 incredible volunteers who donate their time to help us beat cancer. In the lead up to Volunteers’ Week on the third of June, we want to say a huge thank you to our brilliant community of volunteers who support makes our lifesaving research possible.  

To celebrate their stories, we’re diving into the world of volunteering by speaking to a couple of our amazing volunteers across two special episodes.  

First up is Penny, one of our campaign’s ambassadors. Penny’s been volunteering with us for over 10 years, campaigning for policy change to help improve cancer outcomes for everyone.  

Thanks so much for joining me. Just to start off, can you tell me a bit about yourself and what you do for cancer research? Who cares volunteer? 

Penny 

Sure. So, I’m Penny. I’ve been volunteering with Cancer Research UK since 2010. I have a quite a few roles with the charity but my main one is a cancer campaigns ambassador for my constituency of Bromley and Chislehurst. So, I liaise with local and national government on various campaigns that the charity undertakes, the biggest one being plain packaging for cigarettes, which we achieved quite a few years ago now.  

I also am a panel member for the children and young person’s cancer panel, which I absolutely love. I’ve volunteered at a few events and done some speeches and talks over the years. But they’re my main two roles currently. 

Jacob 

So that’s about 14 years. Do you have any personal motivations for being a volunteer?  

Penny 

Yeah, so unfortunately, our family been hit quite badly by cancer. So, on my dad’s side, my poor dad has lost his brother and sister. They died at the age of 30 and 31. And his parents both died as well. And and on my mum’s side, my godmother died five days before she turned 30, 30 years ago this year, actually.  

And then 13 years ago, my cousin Georgie died on my birthday. He was about 100 days away from turning 18. And he had had cancer three times from the age of 2. So I do everything I do is in their memory, and in their honour. And to help me and my grief and the feeling of helplessness that I had, after all of those losses. 

Jacob 

Yeah, well, that sounds like a really great way to honour them, as you said, and you’ve got quite a lot of different roles going on. So, what is it like to volunteer? 

Penny 

You know, it’s the best thing I think I’ve ever done apart from my children, I think I’ve been a volunteer since I was 21. And I’m 35 now. So, it’s been basically my whole adult life. And other things have come and gone, you know, different jobs, different friends, different hobbies. But the one thing that’s been consistent from my adult life is the volunteering with the charity.  

It gives me a sense of belonging, I’ve got some amazing friends. And it gives me a sense of purpose. It’s something that I do, I make a very, very small difference. But I do make that very small difference, I make that contribution. And I think it’s one of the most important things that I have in my life. And last year, when I had my second child, I did think, will I have time? You know, I work full-time, I’ve got two young children. And I sat down with my husband, I said, you know ‘Can I still do this?’ And then I thought about life without volunteering, and I just couldn’t picture it. So here I am carrying on. 

Jacob 

That’s amazing. And I think you can’t underestimate the difference that you are making. You and everyone that volunteers for CRUK. So, do you have a favourite part of what you do? 

Penny 

The panel, the Children and Young Person’s Cancer Panel is very close to my heart. I was very fortunate in some way in that we became a lot more online just as I was having my children so I can still volunteer.  

So that panel, at the moment is the thing that drives me the most because of what happened with my cousin, you know, he had cancer. He was diagnosed for the first time on his 2nd birthday. He had cancer 3 times throughout his childhood. So, to do something, especially now I’m a mum myself and have my own children to do something where I feel that I’m making, helping make a change that they will never have to face what he faced other children won’t have to face what he faced really, really helps me in those days where I miss him so much.  

And the biggest thing for me is the friendships, the people that you meet, I mean everyone’s as inspirational as each other, but some of the people you meet really, you build strong bonds with them, you can relate to each other, you’ve all been on some kind of cancer journey, whether it’s some of them are patient, some of them are survivors, some of them are like me have had losses, we can all relate to each other, we all support each other, we all motivate each other. And on those days where, you know, it’s all on top of me, it also gives me a sense of perspective.  

Jacob 

Yeah, the community that you build with volunteers as well is such an amazing part of it. So do you have any standout memories of your time volunteering with CRUK? 

Penny 

So, we do Parliament days, usually every other year. So all as many ambassadors as possible descend on the Houses of Parliament, and meet with as many of our MPs as we can, do some sort of campaigning, some sort of team bonding, they’re my absolute favourite.  

When you’re in a room with other people motivated to make a difference, like you are, that atmosphere is electric, you come away, feeling so motivated, they always bring people you know, some some kind of research that’s being undertaken at the moment or something a little glimpse into what’s going on behind the scenes.  

So you come away, knowing that although there’s still a lot to be done, progress is being made and that hope that you come away with and that inspiration that you get from everybody else. And that feeling of being in the house of parliament, and actually knowing that the work we’re doing is doing something you I mean, it’s the best you come away feeling even if you’ve the campaign has been dragging on for a while and not much has been happening or you haven’t had much to do recently. Those days are just beyond what you what you would expect as a volunteer. Yeah. 

Jacob 

And you said that you were campaigned with the plain packaging for tobacco products, that came into effect a while ago now. But it did take a while to come into it from the start. So how did it feel to sort of see it through from beginning to end? 

Penny 

Oh, it was amazing. And even now, very rarely, because I don’t know anybody that smokes. So it’s very, and they’re all hidden away. So it’s very rare. But occasionally I’ll see the packet and I’ll still be like, Oh, we did that, you know that that physical thing that you see. And you know that that’s been done, and less children are taking up smoking. And I actually came up on my Facebook memories the other day, the day that the vote passed, and we’ve done it. And I just remember the feeling where we were all so relieved that we wouldn’t I mean, I think my MP was sick of hearing about it, because it took so long. But once it was done, the feeling of relief and elation that we’d done it, we’d actually made a difference cannot be beaten. I think. 

Jacob 

Have you been involved with the campaign that’s been ongoing at the moment about raising the age of sale of tobacco product? What have you been doing there? 

Penny 

So I have emailed my MP. I’m very fortunate. I’ve been around for 14 years. So we know each other very well. And I was very glad that he was on board, he voted for us. So mine was quite easy in that I had messaged him, he also agrees, I think most people would say he was very receptive. He went ahead and he voted for it. So it was very, it was quite simple. But I think it was simple. Because of all the work that we’ve done over the years. It’s been leading to this. So it was a lot more straightforward for me. I think that’s because of all the groundwork that we’ve been building on over these years. And like I said, because we’ve been liaising with each other for 14 years, he already knew my backstory, he already knows what I’m doing, why I’m doing it. So it was not as challenging as previous campaigns, but still very important.  

Jacob 

Yeah, I think a lot of people might feel like trying to build a personal relationship with their MP might be a bit daunting. But is it just a case of sticking at it and trying different things each time or? 

Penny 

Perseverance is definitely true. I think my one piece of advice to anybody who is going to campaign is our personal stories are very powerful. And they they will resonate with that. 

So, share what you feel comfortable to share. But that is your power, your power is that you are one of their constituents. You are passionate about what you’re doing what you’re saying what you want them to do. So use your story to create some kind of relationship with them. And build on it. You know, we over the years I haven’t just spoken to him about cancer research events, you know if there’s been, he got knighted, for example, I would send him a message of congratulations.  

It’s very boujie to say but we bumped into each other at the Buckingham Palace Garden Party one year so I went over and he you know, he recognised me and we spoke there, if there are any events in the local area that he’ll be attending and I’m at the same one, I’ll go over and say hello. So it’s not just about the campaign’s you kind of need to put a bit of effort in, in the other sense as well.  

Jacob 

Yeah. And I think that just because show like that the perseverance is worth it.  

Penny 

Well, I’m gonna have to start from the beginning, because my MPs actually announced that he’s not running in the next election. So, it’ll be very new experience for me, after the next general election, because I’ll have a new MP to build a relationship with. So, it’s kind of nice, it will bring some freshness to the role after so many years. So I’m quite I’m looking forward to that. I’ll be very sad that I won’t have him because I do know that he’ll agree with what I, what I’m going to ask most of the time. But at the same time, it’s kind of exciting to be approaching it as a kind of newbie again. 

Jacob 

Yeah, now you’ve got 14 years of experience. And you say, when you started, you’re quite young. Was it an easy decision for you? 

Penny 

When I joined? Yeah, so I originally thought about maybe pursuing politics as a career, but I don’t have the personality that would go with it, I just decided I wouldn’t be the right match. So the role was perfect, because it would combine my passion for doing something against cancer with also having a little step in the door politics wise.  

And at the time, my motivation was my cousin was still still fighting, he was six months away from passing away. My granddad had died a few months before. So I was very much in the thick of it, I was almost desperate to find something to do. You know, I was very helpless with my cousin, there was not a lot I could do apart from sit with him and be with him. So, this role fitted perfectly, because it was something I could do something I could actually help with.  

So, I think maybe not everybody has that motivation. I really hope they don’t, because it’s not a nice situation. But I do think a lot of people want to make a difference. And this is one great way you can volunteering for a cause you’re passionate about, I could speak about it forever, because it will change your life. And it will help you in more ways than you would even know even. You know, I think any job I’ve had since I’ve started volunteering, the first question they asked me in the interview is about the volunteering rather than my work experience, because it brings something that not everybody has met, it sets me apart from the crowd in a way.  

So yeah, I think if anybody does feel particularly passionate, and I do think most young people do, find the cause that you feel passionate about and find a way to donate time, I don’t have a lot of time at the moment. Like I said, I have young children, I have a full time job. You The good thing about volunteering is you can choose when and how you volunteer. If you want to dedicate every weekend of the summer to Race for Life, you can if you have one or two hours a month, you can also do that there are so many different ways to get involved. 

Jacob 

I think you sort of took the words out of my mouth there that’s exactly what I was going to ask you next and summarise that perfectly. You have touched on it throughout what we’ve been talking about, but what impact do you think that volunteers have to what Cancer Research UK does? 

Penny 

I think is a lot bigger impact than people think. For example, some of us volunteers have been around longer than the policy team who actually are employed by the charity. So I think we we’re around we’re very dedicated. We are very passionate, and we bring the personal side of the charities work to the forefront. You know, if it’s your job, you won’t necessarily talk about your personal motivations for doing your job. But if you’re a volunteer, you are.  

I will talk about my cousin, I’ll talk about my aunt. My friends will talk about their own journeys with their illness and their treatment. And I think that is the most powerful thing especially liaising with government, local or national coming to the table and saying I want this law changed because this has been my personal story will always be more powerful than facts and figures because you are the fact you are the figure you are the statistic and you’re sitting there in front of them. 

Jacob 

And I think again, you captured this mostly but if there was someone that was just thinking about donating some time to volunteer even if short time what would you say to them?  

Penny 

Do it. I will wax lyrical about volunteering till the sun goes down.  

Like I said it will change your life. If even if you donate one hour a year, that one hour will change everything, you’ll change your perspective on life. It will leave you feeling motivated, it will open up a world with people who feel the same issue. And I don’t think that can be. It’s not a small thing. I mean, the friends I’ve made through the charity are some of the closest friends that I have. We come from very different walks of life, very different ages, very different backgrounds. But we’re all linked by this one thing.  

And they’re the people who, when some, you know, when I had my children, the first flowers I received were from my fellow ambassadors, when somebody passes away, the first people to commiserate with you are your fellow volunteers. It’s a very close knit community that I don’t think I would find outside of volunteering is a very unique thing. Very supportive, very motivating, very inspirational, but it’s something I don’t think I would be able to be without now. 

Jacob 

Campaigns ambassadors like Penny, are vital members of our team helping us to drive change at the local and national levels.  

But campaigning is just one way you can volunteer. If you’re looking for a way to get stuck in and make a difference, head to our website to find out how you can get involved. If you’ve got an hour spare, why not make it really count as part of the Big Help Out on the 7th, 8th and 9th of June. join millions of people across the UK in lending their time to events, shops, campaigns, and much more.  

Join us next time where I’ll be chatting to Rhian about her experience volunteering at Race For Life events. Until then, this has been That Cancer Conversation. Thanks for listening and talk to you next time.