Sophie Robins is the Welfare and Service Coordinator based at the Newtown Vinnies Office and has been with us for close to 8 months. Sophie’s role covers a wide variety of different administrative areas within the organisation.

However, being the first person visitors meet at Vinnies offices, a big part of Sophie’s job is to welcome all new comers with a friendly face and says compassion & an ability to connect is a very important part of what she does. Sophie believes, “You need to be able to constantly switch from the organisational side of the job to the friendly caring side when dealing with people who are often stressed, emotional and seeking help".

Sophie finds one of the most important things in her job is to listen.“When you listen, you can begin to understand how best to help and when you don’t listen properly it’s difficult to give that help”.

With a background in Government and Banking, Sophie’s role at Vinnies is fulfilling in a way she hasn’t experienced before. “Some people can see their output in numbers & others can see it through creating things, but I can see it here through helping others & ending the day knowing I did the best I could.”

Juggling the many different roles is now a lot easier for Sophie as they can quickly vary from managing the van pick up/delivery logistics and receiving calls through to taking orders for Alter Breads and greeting visitors to the office.

When I asked her what her favourite part of the job was, Sophie says, “Working with the rest of the team. Everyone is really nice to each other & everyone is seen as a person, not an employee. Vinnies office is a very supportive working environment” 

Another part of the job that Sophie enjoys is the freedom in being able to decide how to run things and says. “With freedom, I can do the job how I like to do it. It’s rewarding to have the ability to change and eventually move toward developing a process that will work more successfully as a result.”