Charity Number 1087415

UPBEAT - HEART SUPPORT IN WEST SUFFOLK

Volunteers Required

VOLUNTEERING FOR UPBEAT

Our active membership continues to grow and we continue to promote the help, support and exercise facilities that so many of our members find so helpful, if not invaluable. We strive to achieve a high standard in everything we do but like so many organisations, the burden of organisation and administration falls on far too few people and we desperately need more help.

We are lucky in that we have a hard working Executive Committee who keep everything on the straight and narrow and devote many, many hours, all totally voluntary in ensuring that the finances keep coming in, the sessions run properly and that the group runs in a professional and responsible way. However, some of these officers have been doing this for a number of years and in the case of our Chairman, since day one, eleven years ago.

Whilst we and our families have the health to enable us to continue to do this we soldier on, however we must have contingency plans in place in case one of us falls ill or is unable to continue. To that end, in the first instance it is vital that we enlist a Vice Chairman into the vacant position it stands in today. We must have someone to be trained up, if necessary and be able to take the reins in such an eventuality.

We also have vacancies for three more people on the Executive Committee as Committee Members. We are looking for persons who have some drive and direction, who perhaps are prepared to take on a specific duty.

A number of job responsibilities have changed over the last year or so and this was essential as the load on one or two individuals was becoming very onerous. Our thanks go to Rita Howell who has taken on the Secretaries duties, Membership Secretary, the 100 Club and a number of Bury based social and fund raising functions. David Williams has admirably taken on the Magazine editorship and is being helped by a team who are responsible for the advertising. Sylvia Bambridge is responsible for the London Theatre Trips and with John Wood is responsible for the poster and leaflet distribution to doctors’ surgeries in Sudbury & Bury St Edmunds. Jill Van-de Plasse has taken on the responsibility of Social & Functions for 2007.

We are particularly grateful for the very generous offer of Steve Dennington who has volunteered to completely redesign our Web Site, which you are currently reading and which everyone in Upbeat is particularly excited and delighted with. He is not a member and doesn’t even live in West Suffolk so, thank you Steve, you have done a superb job.

To these, one must not leave out the unsung heroes who help week in week out with collecting the Bonus Ball, serving teas and coffees, collect the exercise monies, help with catering at functions, put out and put away the chairs etc. Too many to mention here, but without them Upbeat would not work, so their help is essential. Thank you all.

So what else is there to do? Plenty! As well as more Committee members we need people preferably to take on specific functions, but we also need even more urgently, helpers. Those that again could take on the responsibility or ownership of a project or function would be most welcome. If however, one felt that this was perhaps too large a step to take, there is no reason why a small sub group shouldn’t be formed with a leader, to achieve the same goal. It really needn’t be that demanding – if we had enough helpers it would just share the load and each would dictate how much time and effort they could expend.

So the future of Upbeat is on YOUR hands. Can you put something back into the Group? Can you take it forward and keep it at the forefront of Heart Support Groups in the country? Or can you just spend the odd hour every now and again to ease the load of those currently working so hard for the benefit of us all.

If you feel that you can offer something or perhaps have some ideas as to what Upbeat should be doing or where we should be heading, then please make contact.

Please speak to our Chairman: Jill Brooks, Tel: 01787 376723, Secretary, Rita Howell Tel: 01284 762976 or our Treasurer, David Camp Tel: 01787 376723.

Their email details are on the Upbeat Committee page.

Thank you.

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