Community Honours its Volunteers

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Award Ceremony held at Hammersmith Town Hall

An advertising executive who played the piano at a youth club, and an unemployed man who gave advice to the homeless, were among a group of people honoured on at Hammersmith Town Hall for their exceptional commitment to volunteering.

Laurence Sassoon from Kensal Green and Gary Howett from Hammersmith joined 24 other local people in receiving certificates from Cllr Antony Lillis, Hammersmith & Fulham’s cabinet member for community and children’s services, as part of an awards ceremony organised by the Hammersmith & Fulham Volunteer Centre.

Laurence served as an accompanist at Bush City Youth, a Shepherd's Bush youth project that focuses on the performing arts, while Gary worked as an advice and assessment volunteer at the homeless charity Alone in London – and was so effective that he was made a full-time member of staff.

The VC holds its awards ceremony every year in order to recognise and celebrate local volunteers who go the ‘extra mile’ for others, thereby developing their own skills and experience in the process. All the award winners were nominated by the charities or organisations where they have given up their free time.

Says Laurence Sassoon, "I've been in advertising for 13 years and, as I had some time available, I thought to myself, why not do something useful? So I went and signed up at the Volunteer Centre and discovered that one of my hobbies, playing the piano, would be valuable to Bush City Youth project, where the kids do a lot of acting and dancing and need someone to accompany them. It's a wonderful project, with really lovely kids, and the experience opened my eyes to the great work that people are doing in the community. So it was good for me and, hopefully, good for them too."

Gary Howett says: “I knew that I wanted to work with young people and, having applied for several jobs already, realised that volunteering was a good way of getting experience. So I went to the Volunteer Centre and they told me about Alone in London, which helps young people at risk of homelessness. As an advice and assessment volunteer, I gradually gained more and more responsibility until I was working face-to-face with young people, helping them to apply to hostels or social housing and advising them on issues like benefits and training. When a full-time position became available, I applied and got the job – so I’m very satisfied with how things have turned out, and very grateful for the help of the Volunteer Centre.”

Gary Howett was nominated for an award by Alone in London’s voluntary service manager, Neil Willington. Says Neil, “Like many organisations, we’ve got our opportunities advertised on the VC website, and Gary came to us three days a week to help support young homeless people. Gary was really good at empathising with the young people and being sensitive to the distress that they were in; he also worked well as part of the team, kept good, accurate records of his work, and even contributed at staff meetings. When a full-time position became available, the experience and the ‘technical mileage’ that Gary had gained with us carried him successfully through the selection process.”

Marion Schumann, Volunteer Centre director, said, “we firmly believe that people get as much out of volunteering as they put in, by meeting new people, broadening their horizons and developing their skills and experience. These award-winning volunteers are testament to that fact. Our hope is that more local residents and businesses will follow their example by dropping in to the centre and finding out more about volunteering.”

In the last year the VC has placed 1500 volunteers.

December 29, 2006