Retired Milton Keynes teacher is queen of the famous RNIB Sooty boxes

A retired Milton Keynes schoolteacher has been hailed the champion of Sooty boxes by the The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB).

Carole Birch, 72, has been volunteering for RNIB by collecting money in their famous boxes for the past 16 years.

She looks after 350 boxes in shops and businesses in an area encompassing MK, Banbury, High Wycombe, Daventry and Northampton.

She said: “I’ve been volunteering, emptying Sooty boxes, since 2007 after I saw a Sooty box with a label advertising for volunteers.

“I’ve got about 350 box sites which all span quite a large area ... I have to collect from them all a couple of times a year, sometimes more often if the boxes are regularly full.

"I exchange the box for an empty one, bring it home, count and bank the money, wash all the Sooties and then head off the next day.”

Carole likes the volunteering role because of the flexibility and also the satisfying feeling of opening a full box.

“When you open the box like I did the other day and you have a £157 pounds in it, you think, ‘wow, that really is rewarding’, - both for the people when I send them the receipt and for me to be able to say that I collected that much.”

RNIB is celebrating the magnificent work of Carole and their hundreds of other volunteers during Volunteers Week, which runs from June 1 to June 7.

During 2021 and 2022, an amazing 3,300 volunteers supported RNIB, with 996 of them having sight loss themselves.

In the past year, volunteers have collected more than £300,000 in donations from RNIB Sooty boxes, supported 1,222 people through 144 weekly Talk & Support groups and have tested the accessibility of 63 ATM's across the UK.

Carole said: “Volunteering gives you the fluency of talking to people. It makes you more relaxed when you meet new people. So if you’re going for a job, it’s not quite as daunting as if you’ve been sitting at home doing nothing for weeks on end. You just have to be organised really – it’s like a work timetable, but so much nicer. I’m quite happy doing this role, it’s never boring.”

RNIB CEO Matt Stringer said: “People volunteering their time with RNIB provide an incredible impact on people’s lives. From opening up access to technology or raising vital funds, through to helping to build connections and confidence, this impact is far reaching, especially for people who may feel isolated by changes to their sight. But it’s also powerful to hear about how important volunteering is to those who generously give up their time and get so much in return.”

“This Volunteers’ Week I’d like to say a massive thank you for all you do and the positive difference you make to the lives of blind and partially sighted people.”

To find out more about volunteering with RNIB, visit here.

Every six minutes, someone in the UK begins to lose their sight. RNIB is taking a stand against exclusion, inequality, and isolation to create a world without barriers where people with sight loss can lead full lives.