Rachael was referred to Home-Start in 2003 following the premature birth of her twins which resulted in them being in an incubator and her daughter developing cerebral palsy – she received support from a volunteer and afterwards wanted to ‘give back’ and has been volunteering since Jan 2005.
Rachael has supported 26 families on behalf of Home-start and has never wavered in her commitment and passion for Home-Start. Rachael’s help and support has drastically changed the lives of at least 70 children in nearly 20 years with Home-start!
Rachael isn’t completely saying goodbye and will continue to offer peer support and training for other volunteers within the scheme and especially assist those working with families coping with disabilities.
When we nominated Rachael for the Mayor of Bournemouth’s volunteer of the year award, we were so delighted that she was not only shortlisted but then won!
Although is often hard to choose just one volunteer as special, as all who volunteer give so much but we hope you will agree that with all of the above Rachael is and has been an exceptional volunteer and we can’t thank her enough.