Welcome Mentors win awards for outstanding contribution to volunteering
Four Welcome Mentors win awards for their outstanding contribution to volunteering to support others in their community
Adult Learner awards shine a light on people from Kirklees who have made a significant change to theirs and other people’s lives through learning and volunteering and employment.
We wanted to acknowledge the special and invaluable work that our volunteers do and celebrate their own achievements by nominating them for an award… little did we know at the time that they would be selected as winners! We nominated Rama, Ghani and Basema, a family originally from Syria and Elspeth all the way from Huddersfield!
Rama, Ghani and Basema: Ghani, Basema and Rama are a family who arrived into Kirklees on the Syrian resettlement programme, they had to move here from their war torn country of Syria where they feared daily for their lives, they experienced indescribable trauma and daily worry of leaving their homes, they were frightened for their lives and never knew if the next trip out for essentials would be their last, even having experienced such devastating events, upon arrival into Huddersfield they instantly made a start to work on a brighter future which for them included helping others and working on their own progression. They are all incredibly special and whilst they are amazing individuals who have all achieved so much, their bond and experiences that they have shared have made them unstoppable as a family! The family are an inspiration to people arriving in the UK as they each had different starting points, but have shown through a commitment to learning and integrating that they can achieve their goals!
This special family have an incredible knack for making people feel welcomed, this extends to our own volunteers – we can often take on new volunteers who are feeling a little nervous, often they come to volunteer because they haven’t made friends here yet – Rama, Basema and Ghani are always the first to take them under their wings. It is just beautiful to see – being amazing definitely runs in the family for these guys!
Elspeth: Ali, an Asylum seeker who moved into Kirklees a year ago, he said this about Elspeth “ Elspeth welcomed me from the minute I arrived in Kirklees, she helped me to feel happy settled and like I belonged here, she has put a smile on my face everyday with her incredible kindness and she has always given me hope for the future, her kindness is nothing like I have ever experienced, she encouraged me to pursue my dreams and I am now starting a Masters in Bio Medical Science and Bradford Uni, this is life changing for me and I thank her from the bottom of me heart”
She originally began volunteering at our weekly Welcome club for new arrivals. Elspeth is very creative and wanted to share her knowledge of craft and creative activities to support wellbeing, as it had done for herself! Each week she thinks of a new activity that she thinks they will enjoy, over the last year she has engaged the new arrivals by delivering free arts and craft sessions encouraging people to share their skills and learn together. Using her own skills as a photographer she delivered photography sessions, spending several weeks recently taking portrait photographs of every single person who comes to the club so that they had a beautiful photo to send to their families back in their home countries, one participant said “ I feel like my family will feel happier that I am safe and well, I look happy in this photo – I am excited for them to see it!”
Elspeth also spends a lot of her free time searching for donations to brighten our participants’ days. If someone tells Elspeth that they love to play the guitar then she wont stop until she has sourced one for that person… over the last year she has helped participants in getting musical instruments, clothing, sewing machines, art kits, and has spent time making calls to local organisations to get them engaged in their favourite hobbies.
Elspeth cares about people, she takes the time to listen to people and their stories, learn about their hobbies so that she can best support them, she is so well loved at the sessions, when she arrives, she ALWAYS receives a round of applause and a fist bump from the participants!
It is hard to describe our pride for our Welcome Mentors and the things that they do for others. They are extraordinary human beings who deserve all the recognition in the world!