#SayingThanks to Ann

Meet another#JollyJosh Volunteer

“My name is Ann, I have been volunteering for Jolly Josh since the 28th of March 2018. I am 64 years old, originally from Milnrow, now living in Rochdale. My working life has been spent in many customer facing roles before retiring in 2015 following the untimely death of my eldest daughter Natalie at the age of 29. Her death left a massive void in my life. Coincidentally it was a friend of my daughter who introduced me to Jolly Josh by forwarding an advertisement for volunteers and suggesting that it would be “right up my street”. I contacted Jolly Josh and my volunteer role began from there. I have now been volunteering for over 12 months and it has changed my life. Due to my experience of caring for my disabled daughter from the age of 3 when she was diagnosed with diabetes, I feel that I totally understand the challenges that the families at Jolly Josh face and in a way we mutually support each other.

Volunteering at Jolly Josh gives me a reason to get up and go out, the play sessions are amazing with a different theme each week, I really enjoy my role and can’t wait for Thursday’s to come round.” Ann x

Ann is a huge asset to our weekly 'Stay and Play' sessions, as I'm sure our families would agree! Not only does Ann have some personal experience and understanding of the challenges our families face, she sadly has the personal experience of being a bereaved parent. Ann somehow manages to bring humour and joy to every week, I personally have cried with laughter in her company on many occasions, yet she can also sit alongside our families and listen to concerns and anxieties, offering a genuine, kind and caring ‘shoulder.’ Ann is incredibly welcoming, friendly and approachable and I’m sure that our families would agree that she is of great value to Jolly Josh at the weekly sessions.

Ann also extends her support for Jolly Josh in many ways, in addition to volunteering at the sessions she volunteers within our fundraising committee, planning and promoting our fundraising events. Thank you Sarah for all you do!

And, it doesn't stop there! It's a family affair, Pete, Ann's partner is our newest Jolly Josh trustee, we welcomed Pete as our Treasurer recently.

Jolly Josh wouldn’t function without our volunteers who support us. We have various volunteers supporting different aspects of our charity, taking into account personal interests and strengths, for example, we have volunteers who support our weekly sessions, volunteer bid writers, in addition, we have volunteers who support the planning and organisation of our fundraising events.

If you’d like to offer your support we’d love to hear from you, qualifications are not a necessity, we value personal qualities and life experience. Please take the first step in contacting us, enquiries can be sent to Hello@JollyJosh.co.uk

Below image: Volunteers Ann, Janine (trustee) and Sarah, having organised yet another incredible Jolly Josh fundraising event!

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