Goodbye Ayo!
August 25, 2015
Today we say goodbye to one of our amazing trust and foundation volunteers – Ayotunde Ojo.
She has been volunteering with us since January 2015 and although we will be very sad to see her go, we are so excited to see her progress in her new job š Congratulations Ayo and thank you for all your hard work over the last few months!
Here’s how Ayo describes her time with us:
“My main activities have beenĀ trust fundraising, supporting the annual fundraising ball and researching statistics, facts and stories for theĀ website. I have also researched local businessesĀ for AR’s bucket and tin collection work, and researched rotary clubs for potential fundraisingĀ purposes.”
“I have had a pleasant time at AR. I will miss the friendly working environment; the staff appreciate their volunteers and hold them in high honour. They made me feel even more special for remembering my date of birth and gave me a birthday card and wished me the best for my future. Another thing I have appreciated is boarding the train together after work, sitting together and chatting during the journey. We work and behave in harmony.”
“They gave me encouragement and hope, and helped me keep my dream alive despite challenges along the way. One area of their support which I will gratefully acknowledge is enlightening me further about fundraising during my job search and interviews, and especially their words of advice and encouragement. Kind words are like honey – sweet to the soul. Kind, supportive, great, generous, wonderful and helpful are words to describe the attitude of the staff to me and this made me have a good voluntary experience.”
“This is the first time I have volunteeredĀ in a place that is far from the city. It is a long way to travel and at times, there are train delays/disruption along the route. However, the long distance is like an adventure along theĀ Teddington riverside and I donāt feel bored when travelling to the office. There are times in life that one has to step out of oneās comfort zone to get the best for growth and progress, especially in oneās career. In retrospect, I witnessed the benefits of stepping out of my comfort zone.”
“I will now be taking on the job of Church Fundraising Assistant at Christian Aid, an international organization focused on disaster relief, development assistance and advocacy. It involves helping inspire the UK churches to give, act and pray to bring an end to poverty; supporting and facilitating Christian Aid church fundraising products; supporting the church partnership team deliver their fundraising portfolio, from community events to church and emergency appeals. I will also be helping to enable the team to create fundraising resources for individuals and churches across the UK and Ireland.”
“Volunteering with AR has helped me move up the career path in the international development sector. My voluntary experience has helped me to build on my previous internship experience acquired in international development. Without the experience I gained at AR, this new job will not be a reality. The move from AR to Christian Aid signals career progress in international development.Ā Both organisationsĀ have similar goals i.e. combating poverty through development assistance. They aim to achieve the former UN MDGs and SDGs. My voluntary work at AR has been part of my career journey.”
