Local charity activist meets Princess Royal
Thursday, 2 October 2008
Shona Clarke, Save the Children volunteer from Ballymoney who received a long service award (10 years) for her services in the Save the Children Ballymena shop from HRH The Princess Royal at 'Volunteer Day' at Hillsborough Castle.
A BALLYMONEY woman was one of the Save the Children volunteers from across Northern Ireland to have been recognised for their commitment and dedication at a special ceremony in Hillsborough Castle attended by President of the charity HRH Princess Anne.
'Volunteer Day' is an annual event to thank the 500 people who give their time freely to support the organisation and help raise money to fund local and international projects.
Ms Shona Clarke received her 10 year service badge from Princess Anne at the ceremony and has been a volunteer at the Ballymena shop for the past 14 years. Mother of two Shona says "I got started with Save the Children, because my dad Mervyn Morrison was secretary of the Ballymoney Branch for quite a few years. When I moved to Ballymena about 16 ago I was asked to join the local branch here. They were looking for volunteers to work in the shop and so I started doing three hours on a Tuesday morning."
A couple of weeks ago a letter came to the Ballymena shop saying that there was an area meeting at Hillsborough and that there would be a special guest, so people put two and two together. Shona says "Its a bit of recognition and Princess Anne was quite inspiring. She did make the point that we in Northern Ireland have a good record of fund raising and the Belfast shop raised £90,000 on its own. It is encouraging to keep on every Tuesday morning."
Speaking about the Ballymena shop, she said "We are not on the main thoroughfare but we do have our regular customers but we would very much like to have a few more customers and a few more volunteers too. We are always grateful to receive donations of clothes and we are happy to have people to leave stuff in with us."
In 2006/7, Save the Children raised £2 million in Northern Ireland, £500,000 of which was raised directly by the 23 volunteer branches and six shops across NI. Guests from the corporate sector and local celebrities also attended the event at Hillsborough. A number of awards were presented at the ceremony to recognise achievement.
Long-service awards were given to 13 Save the Children volunteers. Volunteer branch workers are recognised for 21 years' service and those like Shona who assist in the shops are recognised for 10 years' service.
Dalriada Grammar School received the Senior Rita Rodden Cup to mark its longstanding association with Save the Children. The Ballymoney school has supported the organisation for more than 30 years. Jo Keating, Fundraising Executive for Save the Children in Northern Ireland said: "We look forward to meeting the volunteers every year and taking the opportunity to thank them for their tremendous commitment to Save the Children. We are indebted to every one of them. This was our 56th Volunteer Day, and we wish the branches many more years of successful fundraising."
