Introducing YVC's Volunteer Coordinator
Ann Henderson recently joined our team as our Volunteer Coordinator, helping us to develop the volunteering opportunities we offer and supporting the people who volunteer with us to get the most out of their roles.
Visit Jobs and volunteering | Your Voice Counts (yvc.org.uk) for details of our current volunteering roles or get in touch with Ann if you have any ideas about the type of volunteering you would like to get involved in – call 0191 478 6472 or email volunteers@yvc.org.uk.
“I am excited to be working for Your Voice Counts and love our ethos of empowering people with lived experience by offering meaningful employment and volunteering opportunities and giving people the chance to share their views and make their voices heard.
I have been in post for about six months and have been busy getting to know our wonderful and committed volunteers, recruiting some lovely new volunteers and have been updating and improving our volunteer systems.
There are lots of different types of volunteering opportunities on offer at Your Voice Counts – for example we have volunteers helping with our Communities projects, such as drop-in groups, skill building sessions, self-advocacy groups and cooking sessions.
We have many skilled volunteers really supporting us to make a difference, such as a researcher, photographer and much more, but we are also looking to expand our volunteer offer and help our older clients who may feel isolated in care homes and the community.
We’ve also recently made some great links with local employers who have been kind enough to give their staff time to support us, such as the South Shields branch of Newcastle Building Society that supported our charity Bake-A-Thon in October.
I have a great deal of experience of engaging with disabled people, people with learning disabilities and autistic people in a variety of settings so I’m looking forward to doing even more of this at Your Voice Counts.
I used to run a project called Can Do, which focussed on engaging with groups of young people enabling them to take on opportunities to build their confidence and skills. We did everything from garden renovations, building sculptures, volunteering, and helping others to making an impact via social action, fundraising and campaigns. I even challenged myself to zip wire from the Tyne bridge to raise money for the charity. Now that is an experience I will never forget!
Before that I managed a supported living service for disabled adults. It was a newly developed home with flats for each person to live in. This was a challenging role, but the main thing I gained from it was seeing how the tenants built on their independent living skills and how important it was to advocate for their rights and choices.
I enjoy crafts in my spare time. I like to make things with my sewing machine and dabble in embroidery and crotchet. I also love our coastline and enjoy a nice walk with my dog Obi at Whitley Bay beach.
Your Voice Counts have been very welcoming and the organisation is a very warm and friendly place to work. I am looking forward to working with more volunteers and making a difference to our clients’ lives.”
