“When you retire from your career, it is important to find something you are very passionate about and volunteer your time towards that cause” Samantha & Mark.
Meet Mark and Samantha, residents of Ipswich, a historic town in Suffolk, England. After retiring from their professional careers, they chose not to slow down, but instead to invest their time and energy in causes that matter deeply to them and their community.
For both, retirement became an opportunity to give back. They stated, “it is important to find something you are passionate about and volunteer your time to itespecially after you retire. It is important and good to give back in some way”. Yet what began as service to others evolved into something more. Through volunteering, they found themselves learning about people, challenging assumptions, and gaining a deeper appreciation for experiences different from their own.
Mark volunteers as a Trustee for Outreach Youth (www.outreachyouth.org.uk), a charity that supports and advocates for young LGBTQ+ people in his community. What makes his involvement particularly meaningful is that it began with a willingness to step into something unfamiliar. As a straight white man with no prior experience working with the LGBTQ+ community, he could have easily remained on the sidelines. Instead, he chose to get involved, approaching the opportunity with curiosity, openness, and a genuine desire to learn.
Through conversations, relationships, and years of involvement, Mark gained a deeper understanding of the experiences of young people whose lives and circumstances were often very different from his own. Rather than assuming he understood their reality, he listened. In doing so, he came to appreciate the importance of belonging, acceptance, and having a strong support system.
One of the most significant lessons he learned was recognizing that many of the things he had always considered normal were not shared by everyone. Growing up in a stable and supportive home environment had seemed ordinary to him, but his volunteer work revealed that such experiences are often the exception rather than the rule.
“What I have found out is that my experience is often the exception,” Mark reflected. “It is therefore important to understand and respect other people’s reality, knowing that your life is not theirs.”
For Mark, volunteering became more than an opportunity to serve. It became an opportunity to better understand people. His experience reinforced the importance of humility and the recognition that our own experiences often shape what we believe to be normal.
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While Mark’s journey began by stepping into an unfamiliar community, Samantha’s journey began with a desire to share the community she already loved.
Samantha recognized that much of what makes Ipswich special often goes unnoticed beyond the town itself. The people, culture, creativity, diversity, and everyday stories that give the community its character rarely receive the attention they deserve. Wanting to change that narrative, she joined a group of local residents to establish Ipswich Love (https://ipswich.love/), a non-profit organization dedicated to celebrating and promoting the town.
Their mission is simple: to highlight the positive stories of Ipswich and share with others what makes the community such a vibrant place to live. There is no hidden agenda. The organization is led by people who care deeply about their town and want others to see the beauty, talent, and spirit that exist within it.
What makes Samantha’s story compelling, however, is that her community work became much more than a promotional effort. As she met people from different backgrounds, cultures, and life experiences, she found herself becoming increasingly aware of how limited any single perspective can be.
Just as Mark discovered that his own experiences were not universal, Samantha came to recognize that her experience as a white, straight, middle-class woman represented only one of many realities. The more she listened to people and learned about their stories, the more she realized that understanding begins when we acknowledge that others may see the world differently than we do. One of the most important lessons she has learned through her community involvement is the importance of empathy. Exposure to different cultures and perspectives helped her better appreciate the challenges, experiences, and realities of people whose lives had followed very different paths from her own.
“People are just people,” Samantha shared. “Take everyone for who they are and just be kind.”
For Samantha, volunteering became an opportunity to build connections and celebrate her community, but it also became a lesson in listening, acceptance, and seeing beyond her own perspective.
Although Mark and Samantha chose different causes, their experiences led them to a remarkably similar place. Both entered their volunteer work with a desire to contribute to something meaningful. Both discovered that service is not simply about helping others; it is also about learning from them.
Their stories remind us that retirement is not merely the end of a career. It can be the beginning of a different kind of purpose, one rooted in community, connection, and curiosity.
Perhaps the greatest gift they have received through volunteering is not the satisfaction of giving back, but the opportunity to better understand the people around them. Through openness, humility, and a willingness to engage with others, both Mark and Samantha discovered a simple truth: our understanding of humanity grows whenever we make space for experiences beyond our own.
