Peterborough charity worker who spends every Saturday volunteering for a local charity as well as working full-time has been chosen to help profile the invaluable work of volunteers across the country.
Cherry Lester, who volunteers for Greyhounds 24/7, a branch of the Retired Greyhound Trust, near Peterborough, is fronting a campaign to recruit new volunteers, home more retired greyhounds as pets and to help secure much-needed funds for the charity.
Volunteers are the backbone of a charity like the Retired Greyhound Trust, so the organisation has teamed up with Volunteering England and Volunteers' Week to profile the work of volunteers across the country during Volunteers Week 1 - 7 June.
Cherry, who works as a manager for Peterborough City Council, has been volunteering at the Retired Greyhound Trust kennels in Lower Benefield every Saturday for the last four years. She walks and grooms the dogs, helps with fundraising and introducing new owners to the dogs in the kennels. Cherry even sells free range eggs laid by her own hens to raise money for the charity.
Cherry, aged 49 who has her own Retired Greyhound called Buster, said: "I started volunteering so I could do something worthwhile. It was also a great opportunity to get out into the local countryside and get some fresh air after a week working in an office. It really is a great start to the weekend and so rewarding."
Greyhounds 24/7 currently has 20 dogs who are looking for new loving homes. So many dogs means a lot of dog walking, grooming, kennel cleaning, feeding and vet visits every single day.
Cherry, from Alwalton, added: "We have some fabulous volunteers who help in many different ways, so I am just one of several people at Greyhounds 24/7 who are involved and I don't know what we would do without them all. We are always on the lookout for new volunteers to help in any way they can. Whether it is dog walking throughout the week, or helping us to raise awareness of the dogs that need homes or to generate funds for the charity. Every little bit of help is invaluable." 
Ivor Stocker, Director of the Retired Greyhound Trust, said: "Without people like Cherry we would not be able to ensure retired greyhounds find loving homes. Our volunteers do an amazing job and one of the key aims of this campaign is to say thank you for all of the work that takes place across the charity.
The Retired Greyhound has teamed up with Volunteering England to become an official partner of Volunteers' Week from the 1 to 7 June 2010 to recognise the great work of its volunteers.
To find out more about volunteering or adopting a retired greyhound, tel: 01832 205363 or log on to http://greyhounds24-7.retiredgreyhounds.co.uk