Our New Teammates

Two new recruits have joined our team and we are delighted to introduce them! First up is Joanne Stewart. Before joining us, she worked in volunteer management for almost 20 years: with small and large Students’ Unions, the British Red Cross and Breast Cancer Care (Now). Here’s how she finds befriending so far...

First off, everyone calls me Jo! I joined the No.1 Be-friending Agency at the start of March as Volunteer Co-ordinator for the Virtual Events and Group Befriending Project and I am absolutely delighted to be working on this fantastic project where I have the opportunity to recruit new volunteers, assess new clients and make befriending matches which will make a real difference to all involved. 

My focus for the project is to restart paused matches through remote and group befriending. I will be recruiting volunteers to provide one-to-one telephone and group befriending. Since joining the team, I have recruited 15 volunteers and set up 5 one to one telephone befriending matches. I am really enjoying getting to know the current volunteers, recruiting and training new volunteers, and speaking to the clients who have been referred to us for support. I feel very fortunate to be doing a job which is making a real difference to the lives of people who are facing loneliness and isolation during the pandemic. It is an absolute joy to be working alongside such dedicated and hardworking people at the No.1 Befriending Agency; they are a wonderful team!

As a long-standing fundraising administration volunteer, Connie Lynch has featured on our blog before. She currently volunteers for the charity African Relief Support, with the aim to reduce or prevent poverty within the community by providing support to vulnerable groups of people through specific programmes, overseeing a number of projects including ESOL classes and a dance programme for children. She has also been the events coordinator for a fundraising clothes sale to raise funds for Beatson. Now she has joined us as our new volunteer coordinator,  here’s what she has to say...

I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to work for No.1 after volunteering with you for the past few months. I love fundraising but it has been such an amazing experience to get to know the whole team, and have the opportunity to meet so many volunteers and clients. I have also loved being able to meet our befriendees through online events. Speaking to them is the highlight of my day as I can really see how befriending is benefiting them, especially through the relationships they build with their volunteers. 

It has been interesting being able to interview the volunteers, especially since I was once a volunteer in their position, and it’s been great to work really closely with Marketa and Joanne, the other volunteer coordinators. They have been very supportive with training, interviews and whatever else comes along! 

I cannot believe I have already been here a month, time has flown by! I am excited to see what the next couple of months bring.

Thank you for all the hard work so far, girls. We are so happy to have you with us, spreading the befriending joy that wee bit further.