On 8th January 2020, Nottinghamshire YMCA held a staff volunteer event at the Malt Cross to commend the fantastic support that the Street Pastors deliver for homeless people in Nottingham. The committed and enthusiastic Street Pastors regularly conduct all of their volunteer work at night and unseen.
This event was supported by Nottinghamshire YMCA CEO Will Wakefield, Head of HR Andrea Shea, Commercial Manager Duncan Mckeown, Management Accountant Steph Hurley, Finance’s Lo Losob, and Newark Project Manager Sally Hill. Their day was spent serving a delicious dinner with all of the trimmings to the Street Pastors at their new year party!
Duncan said: “It was an absolute pleasure to be part of a group of YMCA volunteers that gave back to the Street Pastors. They do an amazing job on the streets of Nottingham; for them to give up their time, free of charge, week in week out is unbelievable really. For me to spare just a few hours to help support their party and to serve their new year dinner was the least I could do!”
As part of our staff wellbeing scheme, every one of our contracted members of staff are allowed one paid leave day per year to volunteer at a local community or charity event of their choice. These volunteer days include events such as litter picking in local areas, wrapping presents for hostel residents at Christmas, gardening at the International Community Centre or stewarding at the Alzheimer’s Memory Walk.
Andrea Shea, Chief HR Officer, commented that the event was, “Such a great chance to work alongside and get to know colleagues I don’t normally work with and also a great chance to say thank you to the Street Pastors for the amazing work that they do.”
Nottingham Street Pastors is a project set up by the Malt Cross Trust in 2010 as a multi-church response to urban night-time problems with the aim to improve Nottingham’s nightlife. Over 60 volunteers representing 40 Nottinghamshire churches patrol the streets of Nottingham city centre in teams of three on a Friday and Saturday between the hours of 10pm to 3am to ensure that the vulnerable are cared for and don’t feel alone.
Street Pastors Manager Beth Burrows added: “We are so grateful to the staff from Nottinghamshire YMCA who volunteered their time to help at our Christmas meal!
“They created such a great atmosphere which ensured our volunteers had a great time and all left feeling valued and appreciated for what they do as Street Pastors. We had so many messages of thanks from our volunteers to Nottinghamshire YMCA for the evening, so thank you again!”
Find out how you can get involved with volunteering opportunities for Nottinghamshire YMCA or the Street Pastors by visiting: https://www.nottsymca.com/careers/