Greenoak’s fourth annual awards ceremony celebrated charitable work in Woking, especially the incredible volunteers who provide so much needed support to people in Woking. Since 2015 these awards alone have contributed over £30,000 to local charities to recognise these fantastic volunteers and the contribution they make to help support their valuable services.
The awards for ‘Woking Volunteer of the year’ and ‘Woking Young Volunteer of the year’ have been created to recognise volunteer individuals and their organisations doing exceptional work in their community, going above and beyond to help others.
Jonathan said 'I was delighted to take part in this fantastic event. The Volunteer of the Year Awards is hugely importnat in recognise the hard work of generous local people, and the unsung heroes of our community.'
There was great competition with some 25 entries for ‘Woking Volunteer of the Year’ and ‘Woking Young Volunteer of the Year’ made online. They revealed the great support and contribution that thousands of volunteers make to local people in Woking every day.'
Congratulations to:
Woking Volunteer of the Year Winner David Wheeler
The winner was David Wheeler who received a cheque for £2,500 for Woking Community Furniture Project.
David is 67 years old and has volunteered 3 to 4 days a week at the project for almost 20 years, making him their longest serving volunteer. He is friendly, reliable, hardworking and a valuable member of the delivery and warehouse team. David is somewhat of a local celebrity, being frequently recognised by both customers and furniture donors, and is also a great source of knowledge regarding the local community. On two or three days weekly David helps on the van, and on Fridays he assists customers in the shop/warehouse. In a typical year David will see over 500 customers and participate with deliveries/collections from 1500 households.
Woking Young Volunteer of the Year Winner Will Siegmund
The winner was Will Siegmund who received of £1,000 for Linkable, and a personal gift voucher.
Will joined Linkable while studying in 6th form last year and for the last 8 months he has been an inspirational young role model, and has already given over 100 volunteering hours. He volunteers at the Wednesday day time adult group “We Can Do Anything” supporting up to 10 service users with various degrees of learning disabilities. He helps the group on trips out into the community such as visiting garden projects, badminton, foot golf, building site development, the Lightbox Gallery and bowling.
Will describes his volunteering as a productive break from his studies, and finds it extremely rewarding and feels a sense of belonging with the group that he supports. He doesn’t like to let the group down and is so committed that he has even come in to volunteer the day before an A’ Level exam. Will is a fabulous example of a modern young volunteer.
