August’s Volunteer of the Month comes to you substantially late, for which I apologise, but with an exciting addition at the end… read on!
Jackie Cartwright is a team member who turned up at exactly the right moment. Trustee (in both senses!) Derek was always clear that he would step down from being the Treasurer when the Community Centre opened its doors (although I don’t think any of us envisaged he would serve for so long!), so we had plenty of warning of what was about to unfold, but unfortunately knowing what’s about to happen doesn’t always mean that you can magic a new treasurer up! Fortunately for us, the wonderful Naomi Sharland was on the case and got talking to Jackie at another local event, resulting in Jackie agreeing to take on our accounts and bring order to the finances of our new business!
We on the team are extremely grateful to Jackie for her constant good humour and willingness to ask the tricky questions! She keeps us all on track with the finances, which let me tell you is NOT a small task, but one that Jackie manages with verve and aplomb!
Jackie ensures that we are careful with our money – not only missing out on the opening ceremony so that she could make sure our cash did not go missing, but producing monthly reports so we can see where it’s going, and liaising with our independent examiners to produce the (highly complicated) annual accounts. Because Jackie’s on the team, you can be sure that every penny of your donations and hard-won fundraising is being used in the wisest way possible. The volume of information and detail she produces each month is incredible and so very useful to the Trustees.
It may be hard to believe, but all this is what Jackie does in her spare time – she has a day job working for another charity and is also a proud (and busy!) grandmother. Her house is always warm and welcoming and no piece of financial jargon is too much trouble to explain.
We marvel at your capability and are so glad you’re on the team Jackie, thank you.
Coming soon: Volunteer of the Year!
That’s right, it rhymes, so how could we possibly not include it in our forthcoming AGM?! For this year’s AGM (5th October, put it in your diaries now!), we are looking for a Dean Court Volunteer of the Year. More details to come soon, but do start thinking about who might be worthy of this prestigious award. The only 2 criteria are that the person needs to be:
- Involved in voluntary work (not necessarily connected to the Community Centre)
- Living in Dean Court (map here)
Who’s your volunteer of the year?
Anna