Happy Birthday #TeamHerts!
#TeamHerts Volunteering, on their first anniversary, held an awards celebration on 23rd May in Welwyn-Garden-City to celebrate and reward the achievements of volunteers and charities across the whole of Hertfordshire, and Will was delighted to be in attendance.
The inaugural awards, presented by Will, honoured deserving winners across the Hertfordshire region, committed to making a difference. There were two categories, Most Flexible Volunteer Award and Best Volunteer Marketing Campaign.
Nina Guppy, a volunteer at Sea Cadets - Rickmansworth and Watford Unit, was selected by the judges as the winner of the Most Flexible Volunteer award dedicating so much of her time to improving the services offered by the Sea Cadets including volunteering as an events assistant, a volunteer Trustee and currently training to qualify as an Instructor in paddlesport, dinghy sailing and expedition leadership. At the same time, she also supports MENCAP as a care worker whilst also bringing up her three children. Chairman of the Sea Cadets - Rickmansworth and Watford Unit, Fabian Hiscock, who put Nina forward for the award said: ‘Her extraordinary flexibility and willingness to take on new challenges has provided an astonishing demonstration of selfless and highly effective volunteering, and has had a major influence over the working of our Sea Cadet unit’. Those Hertfordshire volunteers shortlisted for the award also included Anthony Dacey from Herts Aid, Sue Gilford from Carers in Hertfordshire, Anthony Balls from NHCVS’ Community Transport Scheme, Hazel Smith from CHIPS, Nicola Vance from Resolve, Hilary Stuart and Barbara Middleton from NHCVS’ Coffee Bar and Claire Murphy from Mind in Mid Herts.
Herts Young Homeless were the winners of the Best Volunteer Marketing Campaign for their NightStop campaign, integrating a number of marketing activities to recruit new volunteers including using social media and the hashtag #room4change encapsulating the idea that providing a room in your house could help change a young person’s life. The campaign which launched in February has been very successful so far with three new volunteer NightStop Herts hosts currently being interviewed and a volunteer driver.
Jacquie Hime, director of #TeamHerts Volunteering, said: ‘The event was a great celebration for our first birthday and I personally found it very inspirational to hear the stories of the competition nominees. There was a real sense of enthusiasm and support for the #TeamHerts Volunteering project’.
After the awards, Will commented "As High Sheriff of Hertfordshire it has been my privilege to meet volunteers and to visit organisations doing so much for our County. #Team Herts Volunteering is one such organisation and is building the volunteer community in the County through online connections. This is the way of the future and does great work to connect us all. It was a privilege to meet the team with so many other volunteers and to discuss the work they do."
If you are interested in volunteering in Hertfordshire you can find opportunities local to you on the #TeamHerts Volunteering website: www.teamherts.org
