Volunteer Thank You Reception

Library Volunteers were welcomed by the Mayor Councillor Robert Freeman and his wife to the annual ‘Thank You Reception’ event. Held in the Mayor’s Parlour at Kensington Town Hall, this event gives volunteers the chance to meet and talk to others about their volunteering experience.

Group photo of volunteers

The Mayor welcomed them all by saying how important the contribution of volunteers is to the service and how they have helped with a range of activities for children and adults. He also found time to talk to many of the volunteers individually about the libraries they had worked in and the activities they had been involved in.

Councillor Will the Cabinet member for Libraries, also said a few words commenting on the number of hours of volunteering, which was 1,500 over the year. She paid particular attention to the work done by the volunteers in supporting children’s activities through homework clubs and to the 16 volunteers who had supported many of the 983 children participating in the Summer Reading Challenge.

She was also particularly interested in one of the highlights this year which has been the new partnership between Libraries and the homeless charity GlassDoor, which has been made possible through the commitment of one of our volunteers who helps deliver English classes at the Chelsea Methodist Centre .

Gaynor Lynch the librarian at North Kensington Library talked about the value of volunteers in her library. In particular their contribution to the Summer Reading Challenge and the homework clubs, a number of her volunteers were in attendance.

Each volunteer received a certificate from Councillor Will and had their photograph taken with the Mayor.

Volunteer receiving certificate

Volunteers really appreciate this event which is now in its third year and this time we were able to extend the invitation to the volunteers from the Northeastern University in Boston who have spent a few months in the UK and a short time of which was spent assisting us with the homework clubs. The event was a great experience for them and everyone enjoyed it. .

Let’s keep actively recruiting and working with volunteers, so they can make an enormous contribution to the work we do in Libraries.

By Sue Cornish,
Tri Borough Adult Learning Co-ordinator  Community Development