Thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, Shannon Trust have been able to invest in developing our volunteer network, including recruiting two new team members. Our ambition is to support many more people with their reading and numeracy, and volunteers are vital to help us being able to succeed with this. We wanted to introduce Chloe and Vicky, who have recently joined Amy Boucher in the volunteer team. We caught up with them to find out about them and how things are going in their new roles.
Chloe: I used to work in the probation service, delivering accredited programmes to people on probation. I also previously volunteered at a prison in the Midlands. Prior to this role, I was the Community Programme Manager at Shannon Trust. Supported through the Ministry of Justice’s Prison Leavers’ Innovation Challenge, the programme helped people on probation in Kent, Surrey and Sussex with their reading using Turning Pages Digital.
Vicky: I have experience working in the charity sector, working with national and international organisations. I haven’t worked in the criminal justice sector before, so I’m excited to learn more, but I do have a background in managing volunteer programmes. My roles have involved getting people involved in local and international volunteering. I’ve done lots of volunteering myself too, previously volunteering in a care home, youth groups and abroad. I think that’s why I ended up in this career, because I really value volunteering and see the benefits it has.
Chloe: When I worked in the probation service, I became aware that a lot of people struggled to read. I saw a role at Shannon Trust and wanted to help, as my original role involved working with the probation service to help people improve their literacy. It gave me a lot of transferable skills for this role – including helping people with lived experience into volunteering. As Shannon Trust programmes become more available in the community, I’m looking forward to providing new opportunities for volunteers, learners and mentors/coaches.
Vicky: I wanted to stay in the charity sector and I’ve worked with a lot of people from disadvantaged backgrounds, many of whom struggled with literacy and didn’t think volunteering was possible for them. I was really drawn by the opportunity to get involved, develop the existing volunteer programme and provide opportunities for volunteering for people from all walks of life. The growth and scope for new opportunities at Shannon Trust really appealed to me. I’m looking forward to helping us reach many more people.
Vicky: I’m looking forward to developing new, flexible volunteering options at Shannon Trust, and continuing to develop our offer so that we attract volunteers from all different demographics.
Chloe: Same here! I’m looking forward to developing the existing offer, and creating new roles as Shannon Trust grows. Some of our volunteers have been with us for many years and it’s amazing how much they’ve contributed. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops in the future with new roles and new volunteers, as well as the existing ones.
Both: Even if you don’t think there’s a role for you yet, get in touch! We’re open to new ideas. Even if there isn’t something that works for you right away, we’ll keep your information and be in touch when there is.
We’d also encourage people to sign up to our mailing list to keep up to date with opportunities, and check out our website for the latest vacancies.
Vicky: I’m new to Shannon Trust, so I’ve been learning about the organisation and how everything works. This is my first time starting in a new job in a remote working environment and everyone has been so lovely – I don’t feel like I am working remotely in a way because I feel like I can contact people for help at any time. I’m really looking forward to meeting volunteers too.
Chloe: I’ve been looking at our current volunteer management processes, including on our database, and thinking of ways we can streamline them to make them work better for everyone. Vicky and I have also been working on preparing the Tom Shannon Award celebration event. You’ll hear more about this soon, but it’s been so lovely to be able to speak to volunteers and tell them they’ve been nominated for, or even won, an award.
Vicky: Oh yes that has been great! We really value volunteers at Shannon Trust, they’re so important to what we do, and we want to recognise that. The awards are a lovely way of doing so, and we hope to do more to recognise volunteers in the future.
*This question elicited a lot of discussion as Vicky had a list of favourite books, and there were mixed opinions around Chloe’s current favourite book!
Chloe: My current favourite is The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I was convinced I knew the twist throughout, and then when it read it, it wasn’t what I expected at all. It was one of those moments where you just throw the book across the room!
Vicky: A lot of the books I read and quite dark or sad so that’s a word of warning! My favourite is probably A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry or any of Khaled Hosseini’s books. He writes so beautifully!
I have to start by saying I’m so delighted to have two new team members, who both bring a wealth of skills and experience to the role. We’re so grateful to The National Lottery for recognising the power and potential for volunteering at our organisation, and for giving us the tools to support many more people to learn to read and do basic numeracy.
It’s a very exciting time for the team. Shannon Trust has grown so much, and volunteer roles are evolving too. It’s been amazing to have the support of volunteers - some of whom have been with us for many years - throughout this growth. We couldn’t have achieved it without their support.
We’re really looking forward to developing new roles to help us support more learners in prisons and in the community, as well as ensuring volunteering at Shannon Trust is the best experience it can possibly be. This includes reviewing existing roles, creating new ones, and investing resource into new systems and processes to make the volunteer experience, as smooth, easy, and supportive as possible.
If you’re interested in volunteering with Shannon Trust, check out our vacancies. If you have skills to offer, but you can’t find a role for you, please contact the team.
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