What an interesting and enjoyable Club Meeting we had on 9 April!
Orla Fawcett came to talk to the Cl
ub to tell us about her forthcoming volunteer trip to Nepal for a year starting September 2018 with the charity Project Trust 
.
Cick on the images to view the leaflet that Orla has produced about her trip, the organisation and how to support her. You can follow her on Facebook @orlafawcettnepal She wrote to us in February asking if she could come and talk to us Orla Nepal Letter Orla talked us through the educational work she is likely to be doing in a remote Nepalese village, living with a local family for a year. She is a talented and confident young woman and we are sure she will make this venture a great success for the people she will be helping, those working with her and also for her own personal development. We can’t wait to hear all about it in Aug/Sep 2019 when she gets back!
Orla is pictured here with President Rita and Sally Bear the Club Mascot, and also with the delicious cakes she made to sell to us on the night. Orla raised a scrummy £67 which is addition to the Club donation of £25 makes a healthy total of £92 towards the £6,200 she needs for the project.
If anynyone else would like to sponsor Orla she has an online donation page at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OrlaFawcett
Good luck Orla – have an amazing time!
On the same evening Lara Norris came talk about the work of the charity Home-Start in 
Hertfordshire www.home-startherts.org.uk Home-Start volunteers help families with children under 5 who are struggling to cope: with support, the parents develop increased confidence and build better lives for their children. Lara is the Chief Executive of the Charity. Unfortunately Sheila Prowde, a volunteer for Home-Start, was unable to come to the meeting herself (the birth of a grandchild took priority – of course!) . Before Lara spoke, our Member Amanda read out Sheila’s testimonial which was very moving. Through volunteering with Home-Start at a bad time in her life Sheila was not only able to help the family but herself too – it changed the lives of both families, for the better, for good. Lara was also able to tell us her own very personal journey where Home-Start had supported her – and now she is very proud that her education and career mean that she is in the position of CEO and able to “give back”. Most families are referred by health visitors and they currently have 105 families waiting. Volunteers are usually involved with a family for between 6 and 9 months and do what is needed based on an individual assessment of the family. Home-Start is now 100% reliant on fund-raising and grants and needs £300,000 per year to support the 600 families. On the evening several Club Members offered to help with grant applications – let’s hope it helps and they get the money they so badly need and deserve. Lara is pictured in the centre here with President Rita (left with Sally Bear) and Amanda Brown (right).