Charity’s chance to shine

Flitch way 5The High Sheriff’s Award for excellence in volunteer management offers Essex volunteers the opportunity to thank their organisation for the support they receive helping to make for a positive volunteering experience.

Last year volunteer John Cameron who has been volunteering for the Friends of Flitch Way since October 2013 did just that and completed a nomination form to give them a chance to win £1,000 as a thank you. The nomination form is partly completed by the organisation and Wendy Moss, Secretary and Volunteer Coordinator from Friends of Flitch Way says:

“ the application form was quite easy, it just needs thought to give good examples of the good practice that you operate within your organisation.  We had tried on several previous occasions and learnt from experience.”

Soon after submitting the nomination they were pleased to hear that they had been shortlisted. Wendy says:

“We were very pleased but still felt that there were so many deserving charities we dared not hope that we would be successful.”

In March 2014 Wendy and John attended the awards ceremony with Chairman Stan Davies and volunteer John Moss and were delighted when their name was announced as the ultimate winner.

Flitch way 7The award meant that the Friends of Flitch Way received £1,000 for their organisation to spend in any way they wanted. The group discussed with their committee members and volunteers and decided to use the funds for a number of projects:

  • Reprinting and updating their Friends of Flitch Way
  • Giving the station platform a facelift – renovating and improving the overall look of the platform and station sign
  • Buying work boots, gloves and polo shirts for volunteers
  • To create a handbook and badges for railway stewards

Wendy says:

“We have displayed the award certificate and the shield in our railway carriage and visitors have praised us and commented that they feel we well deserved it which is very nice to hear.”

Nominations for this years awards are now open.

Please visit the awards page of the Volunteer Essex website for more details.