People fascinate me

Two Charities

Mark makes his contribution via two charities each week, the National Trust and Michael Sobell Centre. Mark loves meeting and chatting to new people. His role for at both organisations centres around meeting, greeting and talking to people whether it’s helping them to choose a new book or explaining the history of Osterley House.

The Book Stall

Every Tuesday morning at 7:30 Mark is at Amersham Market unloading the books and laying them out on the stalls. It takes about 20 minutes for the team to prepare the 3,000 paper-back fiction in alphabetical order. In addition, they sell jigsaw puzzles and children’s books. The aim is simple, to raise money for the Michael Sobell Cancer Charity.

People donate books free of charge, and pay what they can afford when they buy a new book. “We have many regular customer who treat the stall almost like a library”, says Mark. “They make a contribution, anything from a £1 upwards, read the book, and give it back to us the next week.”

David Bramold started the book stall 10 years ago and Mark joined the team in 2022 at the end of lockdown. The stall has generated thousands of pounds for the Michael Sobell Centre.

Mark loves talking about books and can chat for ages about the authors he loves. Current favourites include Mick Heron, writer of the Slow Horses series, and William Fiennes’ Snow Geese and The Music Room. In a few weeks time Mark will have a new set of suggestions as his reading moves on. If you need help with finding the next book to read then visit the stall and Mark and the team will suggest authors and titles, from their vast reading experience, that will suit you.

Osterley House

Osterley Park and House, part of the National Trust, stands out as a magnificent Robert Adam House with beautiful grounds. You can find Mark most Fridays working in one of the rooms as a guide. He maintains a discrete presence because people are touring the house with such a variety of agendas. If visitors want to know something about the room he will probably mention 3 interesting aspects and one humorous anecdote.

“Occasionally I’ll find an expert in the room and he’ll enlighten me”, comments Mark. “The one thing you mustn’t do is make anything up. If you don’t know then admit it and find out for the next time”. The House provides a thorough training program, including online health and safety, so even new guides are well prepared for the visitors

Mark enjoys working the rooms where he can people watch, always a fascinating activity. He has to judge whether to assist them or not. His people skills then have to come into play. He remarked that, “when I retired I wanted to keep an interaction with other people; it’s stimulating and it keeps your brain active. I immediately thought of the National Trust because many years ago I volunteered as a surveyor and I have a deep respect for the organisation.

How to help

As a national organisation there are lots of ways you can support the National Trust. To begin visit their web page dedicated to volunteering. There are so many roles available that you are bound to find something to suit your interests. The book stall is not currently looking for extra volunteers, but they are always looking for more paperback fiction so just pop along to Amersham Market on a Tuesday.

Background

Mark grew up in a small Yorkshire village called Bishop Monkton and was educated in Harrogate where he obtained his first job as a draughtsman. He moved to London when he reached 22 and then began a day release degree and qualified as a structural engineer.

Some people are not content with working for someone else. At 34 Mark set up his own consultancy initially working from home, but he couldn’t cope with the volume of work and invited an old friend to come aboard as a partner. The practice grew, eventually employing more than 30 people. In 2012 a major client went elsewhere and Mark and his partner decided to close the business.

Mark is married with 2 lovely children who are now pursuing their own careers, neither choosing engineering. There has always been a dog in Mark’s life. Today Bert holds that role and makes sure Mark has a good walk each day.

Discover more

Find out about many more volunteers. Learn their stories, their motivations and how they help the community. Follow the links on this page.