Celebrating All Volunteers In Wrexham On Wednesday, June the 5th, 2024 AVOW held the first of their volunteer celebration event at Gresford Trust Memorial Hall. This year, Volunteers Week is 40 years old, and AVOW wanted to do something special to celebrate. To celebrate volunteers, AVOW invited people to nominate a volunteer that had made a difference in their life. From all of those nominations, a panel chose one to be the AVOW Volunteer Superstar. Over 90 volunteers were celebrated at the event, receiving certificates and a chance to meet the Mayor, Cllr Beryl Blackmore. It was a fantastic event, full of energy and laughter. The ceremony was rounded out by music from Natasha Borton, singing original music from their EP. The ceremony was moving and inspiring, with every volunteer that was nominated showing just how vital volunteers are to the life of Wrexham County. Without them, there is so much that simply wouldn’t happen. AVOW was pleased to announce that the AVOW Volunteer Superstar Award was awarded to Dr. Tracey Rahman who volunteers at Refugee Kindness. They were nominated by a whole host of people from Colleagues to beneficiaries of their support. Many of the families and volunteers rely on Tracey for her practical approach, good sense, and approachability. She is an excellent link between the volunteers and trustees and often goes above and beyond in her role by offering her wisdom and guidance to all involved. She has supported and been a friend to families through difficult problems of all types, particularly when the family may have suffered bereavement or trauma. They have also supported a number of the volunteers themselves when they encountered difficult times in their personal lives. Tracey has been the backbone of the charity. Due to her dedication, hard work, and friendly approach, others related well to her and follow her lead. The majority of the 20 volunteers at Refugee Kindness turn to Tracey for assistance and support with both matters related to the charity and their wider needs. She never complains and nothing is too much. She has supported a particular family when they lost their home and a volunteer who lost a close family member. When the charity manager left without notice for personal reasons, Trace stepped in to assist. Tracey was drawn to Refugee Kindness due to having faced prejudice herself. When Refugee Kindness was created, she saw it as her opportunity to eradicate the prejudice that she has encountered in her life and has made it a life’s aim to work towards better integration of refugee families within North Wales. Tracey’s hard work and dedication are an inspiration. They have made a significant contribution to the life of people in Wrexham, and are thoroughly deserving of the AVOW Volunteer Superstar Award. This Volunteers Week, AVOW was looking especially for those that had dedicated 40 or more years of their life to volunteering so that they could be particularly celebrated. AVOW was pleased to celebrate 4 volunteers that had volunteered for over 40 years. They are Jennie Henderson, Pamela Jones, Janet Flynn and Barry Hughes. Jennie Henderson volunteers at Stepping Stones. Jennie was one of the founder members of Stepping Stones, which provides vital support to adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Jennie has always led from the front as a Trustee, Chair and Vice Chair. The hours that she has volunteered over the years is incalculable. With her skills, support and guidance Stepping Stones has now become a leading charity covering the whole of North Wales providing therapeutic counselling and family support. Jennie’s dedication and hard work has helped changed thousands of people’s lives. Pamela Jones volunteers at Clwyd Special Riding Centre. Pam is probably the most experienced Riding for the Disabled Advanced Coach in the country. She currently teaches the Clwyd Riding for the Disabled (RDA) group, and is responsible for the training of new volunteers and the coaching of participants with a vast range of disabilities. There is nothing that she doesn’t know about RDA. At the age of 70, Pamela is supposed to be trying to step back from volunteering but shows no signs of slowing down. “Best mentor you could possibly have. Willing to impart vast knowledge without being patronizing and the best coach anybody could aspire to be” (Di Porter – County Coach). As a result of her hard work many participants have been able to achieve their dreams whether this is to just simply sit on a horse, or to compete at the RDA national Championships, which Pam has attended for the past 30 years. The Award was received on their behalf. Janet Flynn volunteers at Citizens Advice, Wrexham. Janet has given over 40 years of her life to volunteering with Citizens Advice. Following COVID, despite being ‘at risk’ herself, she came back to the office to continue her work. She had adopted to new ways of doing things, and taken technology in her stride. She has a very ‘can do’ attitude and throws herself into anything. Janet is a dedicated and selfless colleague who has continued to give up her time to help the people of Wrexham for over 40 years. Janet is always happy to help and mentor new colleagues. Citizens Advice said of her ‘She is an inspiration to us all’. Barry Hughes volunteers with a Judo Club, with a Foodbank and runs free Gym classes for the elderly. Barry run the local gym club (Active-8) where he volunteers. He offers free gym classes for the disabled, the elderly and disconnected people. He has also run a toddler group, running all these groups for free. He stepped up to take over the local judo club when it was in danger of closing and works all hours at the gym to accommodate the users. He also volunteers at the foodbank. Barry has a way of making everyone feel life family. He doesn’t judge, and really listens. He always goes above and beyond to make people feel safe and inclusive. AVOW, Your County Voluntary Council
AVOW Volunteer Superstar CelebrationAwards
You may also like
September 20, 2024
Amy’s Top 10 Tips For Getting Volunteers
September 17, 2024
English (UK) 
Cymraeg