At Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke (NICHS) we depend on the support of our team of committed and compassionate volunteers to allow us to deliver our charitable activities. We involve volunteers in our care services, public health activities, research committees, on our Governance Board, at our fundraising events and as community ambassadors. In short, we involve volunteers in everything we do, and we could not achieve what we do without them.
Anne Megarry from Holywood is a NICHS volunteer and this Volunteers’ Week she is sharing her story about what she does for our charity to help others. Anne explains; “I am a Northern Ireland Chest Heart & Stroke Community Ambassador, and this is a very varied role. I help at fundraising events, either collecting donations or giving people more information about the charity, and I go out to accept cheques from fundraisers on behalf of the charity. I particularly enjoy having the opportunity to get out, meet people and thank them for raising much needed money for the charity.”
Anne has had a long history with our charity. She was a member of staff back in the 1980s. Anne says; “I was the charity’s Literary Secretary from 1987 to 1990. I saw first-hand the difference the charity was making, even back then, and I also saw what an important role the volunteers played.”
“After I moved on from working for the charity I was part of the Holywood and then the Knock and Belmont NICHS Fundraising Support Groups for over 30 years combined. The groups did lots of fundraising for the charity through coffee morning, quizzes etc and I really enjoyed being part of them. When the Knock and Belmont group stopped a few years ago I was asked if I would like to be a Community Ambassador and I was delighted to have an opportunity to do something to keep on helping NICHS.”
“I feel volunteers are the face and voice of the charity and they play a big part in raising both funds and awareness for NICHS. We represent the charity at a local level and play a complementary role alongside the charity’s staff, supporting them and helping out as much as we can.”
“I get great satisfaction from being a Community Ambassador. I love getting out, meeting and talking to people and I enjoy giving back to the community. I just love what I do as an NICHS Community Ambassador.”
We currently need more volunteers like Anne and are recruiting for opportunities across Northern Ireland. Volunteering with NICHS really will make a profound difference to the lives of local people so if you think you could help, find out more at www.nichs.org.uk/how-you-can-help/volunteering
