Faversham volunteer get together – and it didn’t rain!

19 July, 2012 Sallie Grayson

Kate and Sallie just love our volunteer get togethers – it is always such a joy to listen and share as volunteers past and present chat with each other.

The meeting at Faversham was no exception – and being able to spend some time in Kate’s garden was an added bonus.

(take a look at the end of this for the date and location for the next one!)

Thanks to everyone who came – there were nearly 40 of us – so many of you traveled such a distance to be with us.

Big thanks to those of you that did video interviews for us – you can see them here on youtube The stories volunteers tell about their experiences are much more compelling than anything Kate and I may say….on that note someone did video my welcome chat and introduction to people and places and the team – take a look here

Our volunteer education advisor Dianne was kept very busy talking about all the projects she has visited in the last 12 months – thanks Dianne you are a star!

CIMG0082 — Dianne (in green) chats with volunteers past and future

Here are some comments from volunteers who attended

“Just want to say what an enjoyable day I had today, I think it went really well & it always gives me a lot of pleasure to see volunteers sharing their experiences.See you in Chippenham!” Nigel

“It was good to put names to faces, meet future volunteers and chat about the projects” Julie

“Thank you both very much for an extremely enjoyable afternoon on Saturday. As usual you went to a great deal of trouble to make us all feel welcome and it certainly did that and more! It was so nice to meet up with those I already knew – and others who were keen to get started on a project. The enthusiasm of everyone was so apparent that you must feel very pleased that the afternoon went off so well. It looks like you will get some new recruits very soon!

As for my part, I will look forward to hearing from you when things begin to materialise in connection with St Lucia. How you manage to juggle it all and come up with such well organised projects is a mystery to me! Val

“Thank you both so much for an excellent get-together on Saturday. It was a lovely afternoon, with lots of stimulating conversation, like minded people and excellent food.It was also good to meet Julie and Dianne face to face – and all the other very helpful volunteers, all willing to share their experiences. Laurel was a breath of fresh air, with such enthusiasm for the Emmanuel project (we shared the journey down from Victoria and back.) I look forward to reading about her time in South Africa.” Nicki

The next social will be in Chippenham in Wiltshire on November 3rd – Kate will send out details soon – places are limited – so let us know as soon as possible if you would like to come.