Retail Volunteer Story – Joanna

Since joining Great Western Air Ambulance Charity’s (GWAAC) retail team in 2020, Joanna has become one of our most long-standing and dedicated volunteers. And she recently set a record for the most hours contributed by a single volunteer, not only in retail but across all the different volunteering roles at GWAAC.

In 2024, volunteers from all our shops gave more than 21,000 hours of their time to help keep GWAAC’s critical care and air ambulance service operational. Joanna contributed over 1,000 hours! She is on track to reach the same incredible milestone again in 2025.

Why Joanna’s volunteering contribution to GWAAC is even more amazing

Soon after birth, doctors discovered a defect in Joanna’s heart. She needed major surgery to survive: “They thought I would not even be here. So, the fact that I can volunteer, do things, and live a normal life, it really is incredible.”

It was only when Joanna was about to be discharged from the hospital that doctors realised something wasn’t right during a routine check. “They scan your heart, and they suddenly realised that the bigger ventricle in my heart was missing and it did not work.” Explained Joanna.

“The bigger ventricle is in charge of taking the blood around the whole of the body and back to the heart. In my heart, it does not work like that. My right ventricle takes it around the body, back to my heart, and into the lungs.”

Joanna has had three surgeries: at two days old, at two months, and again at six years old. At just two days old, she was moved to Birmingham for her first operation. Her heart was half the size of what it should have been.

When I was six, I had to go on a fat-free diet,” Joanna remembers. “I was the only patient in the hospital who was okay with that. And when I was allowed to go back on fat, the first thing I wanted was fish pie!”

Despite all the challenges, Joanna’s optimism shines through. “I always tell people that I am a very normal person, just with a very abnormal heart.”

“I volunteer for GWAAC because it’s close to my heart”

Joanna’s ongoing battle with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome has been a challenge throughout her childhood and adult life. But in facing it, she was inspired to volunteer for GWAAC—a charity she felt particularly close to: “I have a permanent medical condition, so GWAAC is close to my heart. The idea of saving lives, in my mind, is amazing.”

Joanna has lived in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol all her life, and when GWAAC opened its first-ever shop in Westbury-on-Trym in September 2020, Joanna was one of the very first volunteers to join. She began before the shop even opened, helping to prepare it for launch by sorting, organising, and tagging donations.

Joanna volunteers several times a week, catching the bus to help on the shop floor. Most of her time is spent serving customers at the till, organising the books section, and putting stock out.

“I like meeting people and learning new skills,” she says. “And with what the charity does, a lot of people would not be here without it.”

Having volunteered for more than five years, Joanna has seen many changes. “It has changed quite a lot,” she explains. “The look of the shop, the atmosphere, it is very professional now. It is amazing to see how far it has come.”