Summer Volunteer Party

We had a fantastic time celebrating the tremendous work you, our 240 volunteers, do across the organisation.

The sun shone as we held our Volunteers' Summer Party 2022 to celebrate National Volunteers Week and honour the incredible generosity you offer.

Our annual target is to deliver 8,000 hours of volunteering - we estimate that together we produced 20,560 hours in the last year!

We were delighted to be able to throw this event alongside our annual Dawn Stephenson Volunteer Awards in honour of our late CEO, who was always so passionate about giving back.

Thank you to everyone who supported the event and helped make it possible; The Chair of the Board of Trustees, Robin Fawcett, delivered an excellent speech and kept us entertained with his good humour. Rita spoke eloquently on Derec's behalf channelling his beautifully prepared words. Emily Cook, our Volunteering Manager, welcomed Valerie Robinson (Dawn Stephenson's best friend) to speak and assist with presenting the second-ever Dawn Stephenson Awards, to which she and Dawn's family together generously donated £500.

We are so grateful to the volunteers who have worked tirelessly to help us grow, and we're proud to announce the winners of our Volunteer of the Year awards!

The Dawn Stephenson Volunteer of the Year Award 2022 (Winner) goes to Petula Le Bozec, who has volunteered at our reception desk for more than ten years! We also want to highlight her unwavering professionalism, considerate and conscientious attitude, and desire to show us in our best light at all times.

The Dawn Stephenson Volunteer of the Year Award 2022 (Second Place) goes to Philip Barton, who always strives to make himself available for regular and one-off volunteering. He supports numerous clients with numerous complex situations. He delivered consistently through the deepest depths of lockdown and shows no sign of letting up his support.
This next award is destined for someone who shows commitment and unwavering work ethic, embodying Dawn Stephenson's ethical and just approach.

The Dawn Stephenson Ethics and Approach Award 2022 goes to Miski, who volunteers two full days each week as an outstanding digital champion and befriends one of our more complex housebound clients in her free time. Miski actively advocates and supports them with countless health, social and practical issues. Miski embodies all of the attributes that Dawn Stephenson stood for: compassion, generosity and a warm heart, making her an essential part of our team.

Following the speeches, Emily also handed out certificates and awarded Volunteers multi-coloured Pins for initially joining us. A bronze pin is received after one year of volunteering, silver after five and gold to recognise ten years of commitment and support towards the charity.

We had a lot of fun dancing the night away with an incredible hour-long live music performance from Rebecca Poole 'Purdy' (The Crown) and Hugh Turner, an Acoustic Guitarist. They generously performed and sang a special song for our receptionist volunteer John Mullen.

With the support of our colleague Johnny and his partner Sarah, we arranged for the wonderful people at Good Gym who worked hard to ensure our volunteers could have the night off. Our catering team, led by chef Angela Roberts surpassed themselves, providing a delicious menu, which was a massive hit with our guests.

Thank you to Peter, Derec, Andrew, Johnny, Sarah, Cloris, Paris and Rita for helping on the day. Not forgetting Fahim for consistently supporting behind the scenes and in the aftermath, whose hard work helps keep these events. Massive thanks and credit to Krishan Arora for the lovely pictures.

Emily Cook deserves special mention, as she planned, organised and hosted the whole event! As our Volunteering Manager, Emily is already busy enough; but she still manages to find time to befriend many of our clients and help them get through their day-to-day lives. We are proud of her dedication to improving later life in our community!

We mostly want to thank all of YOU—our incredible volunteers! You're kind souls and exceptional humans who make everything possible for us. Without you, we could not do the work we do in Hammersmith and Fulham! 💙