Jenny Adds-up To Make A Great Volunteer With Her Bookkeeping Skills
It’s Volunteers Week 2020 and we are so grateful to all our Communiteers and Trustees who give their time freely for the benefit of others and our charity.
Jenny Coombs is married to fellow volunteer, Andrew and first volunteered with Communicare in November last year.
She explained: “I offered to help with administration and as the Finance Officer was going on maternity leave, and I have finance/bookkeeping experience, I was asked to help in this area.
“I have always done volunteering in various ways and when Annie Clewlow, who manages Communicare, mentioned at a church meeting that things were very busy and, also, someone was going on maternity leave, I offered administration help, as I felt that was something I had the skills for.”
“The charity does incredible work in the community. However, since I’ve joined, Coronavirus has, like it has with all charities, had an impact that no one could have foreseen.
“The team has done an amazing job supporting existing service users and new ones. However, technology has proved to be a big challenge, with everyone working from home and trying to stay connected using new systems and making sure data and information is kept up to date. The next challenge will be bringing everyone back together and merging systems.
“They always need more Communiteers, but it’s not just drivers required to get people to and from appointments, or people to help with weekly shops or befriending. They’re also keen to hear from people with behind the scenes skills like administration. So, if anyone out there has office expertise, Annie and the team would definitely welcome more support, especially as we start to navigate the ‘new normal’. There are many roles available and you can be involved as much or as little as you would like to be.
“Annie, as manager, has a real heart and passion for what they do and is always looking for new ways to help and support people. I have been supported very well in my volunteering role and I enjoy it. It works well for the charity and for me!”
Communicare Manager, Annie Clewlow said: “It has been amazing having Jenny on board. It would have been incredibly valuable at any time, but her support has been especially key during this period of adjusting to new ways of working. She has been prepared to turn her hand to no end of different challenges and apparently does much of her problem solving on her bike, so sets us a very good example for keeping fit too!”