Celebrating Volunteers' Week 2026: A Diplomat and a Storyteller, giving TFSW's 25th Anniversary a Voice.
Our volunteers bring extraordinary life experience to everything they do. For Volunteers' Week 2026, we're celebrating Caroline Jaine, former British Diplomat, published author, muralist, therapist, and one of our newest special advisors, who has come home to Bristol with a clear sense of purpose.
"I understand how privileged I am to be able to move back to the UK to live where I was born in the West of England," she says. "Not everyone can be where their heart is."
Having been welcomed warmly across the world, and having witnessed suffering through poverty and war, Caroline finds the treatment of those arriving in the UK seeking safety deeply troubling.
“I am utterly ashamed at how dreadful people have been behaving towards fellow humans who have arrived at our shores seeking solace. As a former Diplomat I am proud of the British values of kindness, fairness and equality, which I feel even keener against a legacy of colonialism. It’s the very least I can do to support TFSW, who do amazing work supporting those who have experienced trauma and who have come to the place I call home”
Caroline was born and raised in Bristol but has spent much of her life abroad, often in complex and challenging environments. "I've seen firsthand the traumas of war and displacement," she says. Since leaving her diplomatic career 16 years ago, she has channelled those experiences into work that supports others, through policing, therapy, and in 2025, founding The Jaine Resilience Academy, which helps those who regularly hold safe space for others to build internal strength and resilience.
Creativity runs equally through her life. "I am also a creative person and enjoy writing. I have had a couple of books published about my travels. And I enjoy painting, usually very big murals. Most of my formal education has been in the arts." The rest of her spare time is spent with her children and grandchildren.
Now back home, Caroline is channelling all of that, her expertise, her values, her love of storytelling, into her role as a TFSW special advisor. Her first major project brings together her passion for writing with TFSW's upcoming milestone.
“My first real task is to curate a short story collection, which will be published next year to celebrate 25 years of TFSW. I’m looking forward to working with Askance Publishing and TFSW to choose the best stories. I’m also very excited to be part of the celebration.”
Inspired? Join Us
Volunteers like Caroline play a vital role in everything we do. Whatever your background and whatever you have to offer, there is a place for you here.
If you're curious about volunteering with TFSW, get in touch: https://www.tfsw.co.uk/volunteer-with-us