Volunteer Celebration Event
Posted by See Me, 12 December 2017
On the 5th December we welcomed all of our wonderful volunteers for a celebration event at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. As well as some great performances and stories from our volunteers we were joined by rapper Danny Quinn, choreographer Julia James-Griffiths and the Harmony Choir who also performed and hosted workshops.
Our Social Movement Manager Toni kicked off the morning with an overview of our volunteer programme to date and our plans for 2018, focusing on the how important our volunteers are in achieving our aim.
Next media volunteer Susan Falconer took to the floor to share her experiences and to talk about why she volunteers as a speaker and media volunteer. Volunteer Chik Duncan also shared two of his amazing poems, and let us all know he was once mistaken for Michael Jackson.
After a quick break we were treated to a ‘Play Your Cards Right’ game of higher or lower hosted by Social Movement Officer Eilidh and volunteer Des Macmillan, complete with cheesy music, sparkly hats and a wildly enthusiastic audience. Congratulations to all our prize winners, I hope you enjoy your ice scrapers!
Our Young Champions also spoke about their work with See Me, and the recent drive to recruit new youth volunteers. They also discussed See Me’s work in schools and welcomed our new volunteers by showing a video filmed at our recent residential.
Scottish rapper and poet Danny Quinn then shared some spoken word pieces and spoke about the importance of tackling mental health stigma and discrimination through writing, recording and performing.
Following lunch and a delicious slice of Oreo cake courtesy of staff member and bake extraordinaire Ruth our Community Champions Des, Suzanne Baines, Karen Lally, Bridget Dickson, Sean Harnett and Gary Macdonald shared all the wonderful work they had done in 2017.
We then spilt into groups to take part in three workshops hosted by Community Champion Session Trainer Jane Hornby, choreographer Julia James-Griffiths and rapper Danny. Julia gave us a taster of her ‘Mind To Move’ community workshops, which explores the impact depression can have on an individual through creative expression and movement improvisation. Danny encouraged his group to use rapping to express how we feel, then got us to battle rap (brilliantly) and Jane spoke to her group about developing a wellness recovery action plan to help look after their mental health.
To finish the day See Me Director Calum Irving shared his thoughts and excitement for moving into the New Year.
Last but certainly not least the Harmony Choir ended the day with some heart-warming songs and Christmas classics.
Thanks to everyone for who took part and attended the day, and of course to our Social Movement team, for their hard work, especially Maeve who did an excellent job of facilitating the day. We can’t wait to see you all again in 2018!
