Thank you to our volunteers!
Volunteers’ Week is an annual UK-wide campaign held from the first Monday in June to celebrate and recognise the contributions of volunteers. Launched in 1984, this initiative has been running for over 40 years, providing organisations and communities a platform to thank current and past volunteers for their invaluable efforts.
At Sycamore Trust, you won’t be surprised to learn that we have a dedicated team of volunteers and we really couldn’t manage without them. And it’s only when we reflect on how important their contribution is that we realise just how many volunteers we have and what an important role they play.
We’ve had volunteers at your youth clubs now for many years, including John and Kelly, who have been volunteering at our Wednesday Club in Rainham, for several years and have worked with scores of children and young people during that time. John also recently started volunteering with our Men’s 18-30 Group, where he joins volunteer Imran and sessional staff, delivering sessions from our hall in Becontree.
John & Kelly
Nikki, Tracy, and Obi joined the Sycamore Trust family more recently, and are important members of the teams delivering evening youth groups in Becontree. Cheryl is a member of our Women’s 18-30 Group, and she also volunteers at our Girls Group for 11 to 17-year-olds on a Saturday lunchtime. Brian, Jaime and Megan have been important members of the Saturday Sport Zone team, volunteering their time to help us deliver multi-sport sessions for our youth group members. Working alongside our sessional staff, all of them are crucial to helping us deliver clubs and groups to the children, young people, and young adults that we work with.
But the voluntary contribution doesn’t stop with the youth groups. Sally volunteers at our Autism support groups and EPEC parent group leaders Becky, Marie, Gail, Sandy, Jenny & Nadine all play an important role in delivering this vital service.
Finally, we have our office volunteers, Rebecca and Joseph, who have been involved with Sycamore for some time as well. Joseph started volunteering in 2023 and splits his time with a day in the Dagenham office each week, with helping our Autism Ambassadors presentations. He is also a member of Romford Peer Group, Havering Steering Group and the Mens 18/30 Club.
“Volunteering with Sycamore has helped me to gain more experience, increase my confidence and helped me to become more sociable”, said Joseph. “Even my mum’s noticed the difference!”
Joseph’s story is a great example of how rewarding volunteering can be. We truly appreciate all our volunteers!
Joseph (right) pictured with fellow Autism Ambassador, Robert