End of tenure marked by celebration evening
New Branch Director Aileen Hammersley (left) congratulates Mathew Shepherd
Volunteers from Derby and District Samaritans have held a special celebration evening to mark the end of a successful three-year tenure by Mathew Shepherd as their Branch Director, who officially handed over the position last month. The volunteers, along with their family and friends, joined Mathew at the Hallmark Hotel in Derby last Friday to celebrate and thank him for his support in leading the Branch over the last three years.
Mathew has enjoyed his time as Branch Director and is grateful for the experience, he adds, “Guiding my fellow volunteers to help them deliver our service and support our callers has been a massive honour, a privilege and a genuine pleasure. Samaritans volunteers are amazing people and having the chance to lead a group of them is something I'll always be proud of.”
Mathew has overseen the branch as it has taken on projects locally, regionally and nationally but feels that their biggest achievement is ensuring that the high standard of Samaritan service is maintained to provide their callers with the support they need and deserve.Running a Samaritans branch comes with its challenges, including the recruitment and retention of volunteers, raising funds and maintaining good governance.
However, Mathew embraced the challenges head on, “I didn't really know what to expect when I started as Director and I definitely didn't realise how much a part of my life it would become, in a good way. It was more demanding than I could have expected but also more rewarding and definitely more fun!”