Volunteer Story (28) - Joanne

Joanne was one of two volunteers who received Wales Volunteer of the Year (Highly Commended) Certificates at Childline and the presentation was such fun to attend. They had laid out a lunch for all volunteers and Liz Rowe, the new head of Childline, was on hand to present the awards. Additionally, Joanne had recently been successful in gaining work with Denbighshire Youth Services and her new colleagues came to see her get her award. Joanne was nominated by her supervisor and this was what she said:

“Jo is primarily a switchboard volunteer – she answers calls to the switchboard in a warm and welcoming way to help the young people who contact Childline feel at ease. She then transfers any young people who want to talk to someone to the counselling queue. She is also responsible for dealing with adults, wrong numbers or those looking for information, in a respectful and professional way. In addition to this, Jo has taken on the role of switchboard mentor and is vital to our ability to train new switchboard volunteers.

However, in addition to her work at Switchboard, Jo has taken on a wide range of other roles – administration tasks within the office, putting up monthly displays to challenge and motivate volunteers, outreach work, and interviewing potential volunteers.”