A Volunteers’ Week Success Story
We first met Sue at a Volunteers’ Week event in 2024 and thought it was a good time to catch up with her to discover more about her first year as an EIL volunteer host. She began by telling us a little about her life, work and travels over the years. 
Sue: I worked as a primary school teacher, quite often as a supply teacher, for many years and then in 2011 my husband and I got the opportunity to work overseas. We moved to an office in Shanghai, working with a Swiss company that installed filtration systems, and I became the office manager and supported the technical guys in the field. We then set up a company in India and spent quite a lot of time there. And then after about 4 1/2 years in China, we moved to Malaysia because my husband’s sales territory was Malaysia and Southeast Asia and Australasia, so it was much more convenient to be set up there. We moved back to the UK in 2019 and retired and I met EIL at the Volunteer Fair last year.
Yes, we were there with our EIL stand and you were there as a volunteer with the National Trust.
Sue: Yes, I volunteer in the café at a local National Trust property. I have a great team of people around me, lots of nice customers, and it’s a lovely place to spend time.
What would you say was the main motivation for signing up to become a volunteer host with EIL?
Sue: Well, all my working life, I’ve worked with people who have English as a second language. I worked in the middle of London and in Manchester, so I had lots of multicultural pupils. My time spent working overseas meant I’ve always had a good mix of different cultures, different people around me, and sometimes I’ve been missing that. So, I think that one of the main things to sign up for was to get to know more people from different parts of the world.
So, you joined us and in July you hosted for the first time.
Sue: Yes, the first student I had was a Japanese student called Yoshi, and he was a delight to host, quite shy but his English was very good. He was particularly interested in cars, and I love motorsports, so we went with a friend of mine to watch a hill-climbing event at Shelsley Walsh. We had a great time, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, as I had qualified as a TEFL teacher, I was able to help with teaching the Japanese students some English lessons.
They were great students and absolutely lovely to be around
Have you hosted any other students or visitors with EIL?
Sue: Yes, I had a German student called Max for a month. In fact, he was in touch only yesterday, telling me about how he got on with his exams, especially his English and he wants to come back to the UK in the future. He was a very confident young man and he was good fun. He told me that he liked playing the guitar, so I borrowed one from my brother-in-law so he could have a guitar to play. I have also hosted a young Japanese student called Nonoka who was taking part in an EIL Individual Homestay Programme to improve her English before she went to university in Malaysia. We had a lot in common as I had lived there before.
What kinds of activities do you enjoy doing with your visitors?
Sue: Well, I’ve been to Gloucester Cathedral three times in the last year because my guests have had an interest in Harry Potter and it was used as a location for the films!
And you’ve also recently helped with chaperoning some of our student groups.
Sue: Yes, I really enjoyed helping with the Japanese group trip to Oxford earlier this year and I also recently escorted a group of Italian students on their day trip to London.
Over the year of volunteering with us, do you think you’ve learnt anything about yourself?
Sue: Having trained as a teacher and completed my TEFL training I do think I am quite adaptable but perhaps I worried too much about my first guests. I think over the year I have learnt to trust myself more.
Do you have any tips to pass on to new hosts?
Sue: Firstly, I would suggest keeping lots of biscuits and a bowl of fruit available! Another good idea is to keep plenty of bread in the freezer so that they can have toast anytime they are hungry.
And what have you enjoyed most about hosting students with EIL?
Sue: I think it’s just having an opportunity to talk to young people from different countries and get their perspective on life. I hosted a couple of Italian lads just last weekend, one of them was really interested in talking quite deeply about current affairs. It was thought-provoking for me to share my knowledge and experience but also to gain some knowledge as well. Surprisingly, I’ve now received two invitations to travel in the future. Max wants me to visit his home in Dresden and Yoshi’s parents made a point of phoning me before he left to thank me and to invite me to visit Okinawa to meet them and show me Yoshi’s hometown.
