We met for our Support Contact Annual Training Day on Sunday 26th September; this was the first time we had been able to meet as a team since November 2019. It was exciting to be able to see each other face to face again, and welcoming new support contacts too!
Our Support Contact Team is made up of 14 Regional Contacts, 2 Teen Contacts, a team of 4 Adult Contacts, an International Contact and a Neurological CMN Parent Contact. A few of the team joined us online – we were thankful to have Zoom at hand to make this happen! Looking around the table it was really inspiring to reflect on what each member of the team brings to their role.
We spent the day together hearing recent charity updates in the areas of Finance from Lisa Sly, Support from Hannah Cree, Fundraising from Rachel Swanson and Research from Professor Kinsler. Our team felt really encouraged at how the charity had grown and developed in each area.
Each year we freshen up on our listening skills with Val Unsworth who is a trained counsellor and our Chair of Trustees. This year we chose to focus on mental well-being and how we have been impacted by the pandemic, remembering that both ourselves and our members will have been affected by this shared experience and so the support we provide must also be viewed through this lens.
The annual training day acts as a great opportunity to touch base with our volunteers, learn from each other’s experiences in our supportive roles and to work together as we plan next year’s regional gatherings and support events. Our support contacts are crucial to all of the work that we do as a charity, and behalf of the Board of Trustees and staff team, I would like to thank each support contact for all that they do – here’s to 2022!
