I got involved with CTDU about 10 year's ago when they moved from Stirling to their first premises in Falkirk. That was my first job as a volunteer for them! I really didn't know what CTDU did or what a volunteer was all about. Wow!! I was in for a surprise I didn't realise how much this wee job would affect my life so much.
The next big job I done they were on the move again, this time it wasn't through choice, It was lack of funding. Through Rosemary, Iyaah and Scott I met the students. My eye's were opened I didn't realise that there was so many vulnerable people in Falkirk in Scotland s*** in the world!!!
That's the day I decided I wanted to get more involved as I thought I was the only person in this wide wide world that had a shitty upbringing."I wont go into that" There is so many people out there that need support and help with so many different aspects in life; that puts my life into perspective.
I knew that even though I had a crap upbringing I had some thing to contribute to CTDU, I couldn't be a mentor - but there were practical things that I could do. Things that needed done that no one else could do.
So I went into this thinking I could give something. I never thought about getting anything back. For the next couple of year's I did lot's and lot's of wee jobs for CTDU.
In April 2003 CTDU moved again. This time to a more accessible building near the Kincardine Bridge. These premises are owned by the RSPB situated in one of the most beautiful remote settings of the Forth Valley.
With CTDU having their own premises there were lots of wee jobs and some big ones too - like running all the cables in the loft for the computer network, me and Kenneth set that up with Rosemary and it saved CTDU a lot of money as well as making their work more efficient because the staff can share files and go online at the same time. Now the students have their own computer on the network as well. To me that's a great thing because not all the students have a computer at home, so now they can all have access to the Internet at CTDU.
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This last few months I've been on the board of directors as well. That's completely different from any of the other things I've done at CTDU but it's interesting. CTDU is very professional, and it's interesting being 'in the driver's seat' as far as the organisation is concerned. Some people don't like that kind of work, but I'm enjoying it. We've been updating policies and looking at funding the last few months and I've surprised myself at what I've been able to contribute. With Iyaah away now, Fiona and Rosemary are really pretty busy, they're always on the go. I don't know where they get the energy from, to me the two of them are not just staff they're true CTDUers. So I decided to go in when I could to answer the phones. That's when I saw how much work they actually done. Rosemary has been training me how to do the petty cash - entering the income and expenses and paying out the volunteers expenses. I'm enjoying learning to do that, and it will help me to increase my computer skills as well, because I'm doing it all on the computer as well as the ledger book. I'm going to master that and then see if I can do the cheque account and the bank reconciliation. I didn't realise just how much work it was looking after the money till I started doing this. On the management committee you don't realise how much work goes into producing the financial summary. But now I do! |
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I work full time but I'm on shift work, so sometimes I do manage to some events at CTDU as well. I've done loads of things, in the garden, and the global citizens programme. Iyaah bought me an Active Citizen's hammer instead of an Active Citizens pen because I like to do the manual things as I'm not one for speaking in front of everyone. I'm finding my voice though! The students association is great because there's always an interesting programme and we've raised funds to increase the programme through fundraising ceilidhs. I also did a car booty a few months ago for the students to have a fun day out, because at CTDU it's like a big family, and we'd all enjoy a good day out together. CTDU also put me and Nigel through our advanced MIDAS driving test so we can now hire a bus without driver which in turn saves CTDU some money when having their events. This year has been quite tough, because Jackie died in January and then Iyaah left in June. Some good things happened too though, we got a runner up prize for 'volunteering organisation of the year' in Falkirk, and a Falkirk Council newcomers award for our garden . . . and I got the 'volunteer of the year' award for Falkirk! And we've got some new projects, one in Falkirk, and this project - the web portal. The
participatory video work is really interesting, I'd like to get more involved
in that. I get loads out of CTDU personally - especially when the students are in you just don't want to leave because you can feel the atmosphere change from a place where there is so much work to get done and not enough people and time to do it, to a place where all the hard work the staff do "pays off". The students come in the place seems to come alive its like the highlight of everyones week even if you are feeling crap! I always go away feeling better having learned something from the programme but most importantly from each other. I
feel sad that organisations like CTDU have to compete with each other for funding
to survive, and the value of voluntary organisations isn't recognised. |
