Published in The BANAR November, 2014.
On October 4th, Sarah Dawson was awarded the Blackburn Hamlet Community Volunteer of the Year plaque. Since 2008 Sarah has been heavily involved with the Blackburn Funfair and in 2013 started a Fun Run on the Sunday of Funfair weekend. It was such a success she wanted to make sure it happened again in 2014. Although there were a lot of meetings, being part of the organizing team made the Funfair even more fun for her and her family when it took place.
She also volunteers at her children’s school, Glen Ogilvie, whenever possible since being involved in her childrens’ school is important to her.
The biggest volunteer role Sarah has taken came with Guiding. In 2013, along with some other fantastic ladies, she made a push to reinstate the Sparks program which unfortunately had closed in 2012. Because the number of volunteers was low they combined the Sparks (girls 5-6) with the Brownies (girls 7-8).
Unfortunately the size of the group was limited to 20 girls because of Girl Guide ratios rules. Along with the other leaders they all put a focus on getting out in the community with their group of girls, with hopes of encouraging support and enrollment. They succeeded and as the guiding year started up they were able to reintroduce Guides (girls 9-11) back into the community. The program succeeded in having an enrollment of 50 girls but unfortunately ended up with a waiting list due to a lack of leaders. “We are working on that!” Sarah says.
“I enjoy volunteering and I see the benefits to the community. I am happy to be acknowledged for my efforts, but know there are a great many volunteers in Blackburn who deserve this recognition as well. Together we make our community a wonderful place to live.”
Thank you Sarah