Making a difference

Posted by MST on November 11, 2009 | No Comments |  Print This Post |  Email This Post

MST service users, volunteers, staff and guests gathered at venues in London, Sheffield and Nottingham to celebrate Make a Difference Day 2009.

The day is a national campaign organised to every year to recognise and celebrate volunteering, and MST decided to use it to promote the benefits to more staff and service users. At MHT House in London, several speakers talked personally of the benefits volunteering has brought to them. This included two service user volunteers, Marcel Aouzou and Lisa Shokir, both of whom urged other service users to get involved and to have a positive attitude in order to progress.

A similar event in Sheffield organised by Refugee Support’s South Yorkshire Regional Service User Group again saw a number of service user volunteers passionately tell their stories. Perhaps caught up in the moment, Head of Operations Les Cloughley announced that volunteers who took up a placement would receive a £35 gift voucher.

Marie-Louise (or Ma-lou to her friends), pictured left, was also announced as the winner of an ongoing competition to encourage service users to use the website.

Proscovia Wagaba, Volunteer Coordinator said “It was good to get such great feedback on the events. We started the MST volunteer programme in April 2007 and it continues to create opportunities for service users to gain experience and improve health. We now also have externally funded projects that involve external volunteers in activities that contribute towards MST objectives.”

For more information about volunteering at MST, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator Proscovia on 020 7501 2224 or 07823 530760.