The last of this year’s volunteer training sessions was very well-attended with around 50 of our volunteers, staff and trustees getting together on Saturday 19th October. With an important continued focus on safeguarding training, the event allowed Rosemarie Hegarty, our new Charity Manager & Lead Volunteer Coordinator, to meet a large cohort of volunteers and for new and established volunteers to share their experiences. It also provided a stimulating opportunity for constructive feedback on where the charity is doing well and where there are issues that need to be addressed.
Trustee Mike Mansergh said, “More than anything, this was an occasion for a big thank you to those who have devoted personal time and effort in providing such dedicated support to our growing number of beneficiaries, and a time to share ideas on how to approach the increasingly challenging refugee and asylum seeker environment in the Chichester area.”
Rosemarie, commented on the value of providing volunteer training during face-to-face sessions: “Charities are increasingly putting all their training online – it’s really important that we continue giving in-person training as it’s so much more engaging for volunteers, who really feel a part of a team and a community.”
Kerry Foster, Pathways to Independence Manager, also gave an update to the volunteers on a recent job fair that she had worked on with the Department of Work and Pensions, and described a case study to illustrate the wrap-around service she has developed – watch out for our feature on this in our November newsletter!
Thank you to all those who gave up their Saturday morning for the training session and helped make it such a success. We will soon release the dates for our 2025 training sessions.