For Maria Muriel-Sanchez, volunteering is about more than just helping people who may not be able to help themselves.

A lawyer by day, the Croydon woman has lent a helping hand at St Christopher’s Hospice for the past year after her husband found himself in its care.

"There is a great atmosphere about the place and it’s very supportive, which was why my husband asked me to promise to keep in touch with the hospice after he died," Mrs Muriel-Sanchez

"When I saw that the hospice was looking for volunteers to undertake some training and then go out into the community to help people manage in their homes, I was really keen to get involved.

So once a week she gets on her bike and visits people at their homes, helping anyway she can.

“It’s really great when you see people making even small steps towards their own goals and keeping their own independence," the 52-year-old said.

“Over the course of the visits I really get to know the patients well and we build up a nice rapport.

"One of the patients that I have been visiting wanted to build up the strength to be able to walk to his kitchen and then sit at the kitchen table to look out over the garden. It was really nice that we were able to help him do this, and then sit down at the table together, talking."

The volunteering lead at the hospice, Rebecca Turner, said it was people like Mrs Muriel-Sanchez that made the world a better place.

“We are hugely grateful for the amazing skills and dedication that our volunteers bring to St Christopher’s but I’m often told by our volunteers that they get so much more reward and enjoyment back from volunteering than they ever imagined," she said.

"Why not give it a try?”