Malcom Stanley, Abdoul Diallo, Ronald May, Angela Gowdy, Susan Conlan and Rob Harwood 2022

Marsh Award for Home-Start Corporate Volunteer of the Year

Malcom Stanley – Home-Start Lambeth 

Malcolm made the partnership between Home-Start Lambeth and his company Hymans Robertson possible, and has been the main contact for this partnership for many years. He always advocates for Home-Start and ensures Hymans Robertson’s participation in events and activities that the branch are running. Malcolm plays the role of Santa at the annual Christmas party, supported by Hymans Robertson, which is a great comfort and support to families who may not otherwise be able to celebrate Christmas with their children. He recently organised the redecoration of the Home-Start office by corporate volunteers, ensuring that staff have a comfortable and welcoming place to work. Malcolm is touchingly thoughtful, always checking in on the welfare of staff and families alike and his support is genuine and from the heart. 

Marsh Award for Home-Start Digital Volunteer of the Year 

Abdoul Diallo – Home-Start Southwark 

Abdoul is an asylum-seeker from Guinea who attended Home-Start Southwark’s Volunteer Preparation Course in 2022, where he showed resilience, eagerness to learn and a desire to help others in a similar situation to him. He has been an invaluable help to staff with a whole range of social media activities and has gained a range of digital skills which will prove useful in his career development moving forward. Abdoul is selfless, and has a real determination to give back to his local community. He attends the office every week to create social media posts and updates, produce leaflets and assist staff with administrative support where needed. Abdoul is waiting to be matched with a family so that he can begin his journey as a home visits volunteer, but has chosen to be a proactive digital volunteer throughout this time and has helped to boost the digital presence of Home-Start Southwark. 

Marsh Award for Home-Start Group Volunteer of the Year

Ronald May – Home-Start Medway 

Ronald joined Home-Start as a volunteer in 2017 after his wife passed away, as a way to give back to the community. He has helped on a variety of projects since then including supporting 7 families as a home visitor, supporting a project with Age UK which creates activities to being the old and younger generations in the community and supporting military families by being a male role model for children who’s fathers are serving in the army. During the pandemic, Ronald was an incredible support to a single dad raising four daughters, keeping in touch with him through regular Zoom calls and providing a reliable source of help whenever they needed it. He gets involved with all manner of activities, from providing emotional support to getting stuck in with messy play with the children. Ronald is an asset to group sessions and is highly valued by both staff and service users. 

Marsh Award for Home-Start Home Visitor Volunteer of the Year  

Angela Gowdy – Home-Start Garioch (Scotland) 

Angela is a very spritely (not far off 92 year old) home visiting volunteer who has been with Home-Start Garioch for almost 27 years, supporting almost 30 families. She has taken on a number of volunteering roles in her time, including a variety of trustee roles and fundraising activities, but home visiting is her passion. She inspires confidence in all she meets whether they be new volunteers, parents or children. Angela quickly recognises the support that families need and fits herself in where she is needed, from taking the baby for a walk to reading a toddler a story. As a former pediatric nurse, she has a wealth of knowledge and many local Health Visitors received training from her in the past and remember her fondly. Angela shows no signs of slowing down her volunteering and is an incredibly valuable asset to the service. 

Marsh Award for Home-Start Supporter Volunteer of the Year 

Susan Conlan – Home-Start East Lothian 

Susan joined as a volunteer in January 2017 and, despite facing her own challenges of surviving breast cancer, brought her bubbly personality to support an isolated family with newborn twins. After taking some time out when her cancer returned, she began to volunteer at Home-Start East Lothian’s allotment space, sharing her love of gardening and her knowledge of growing food to help families make their own fertilisers and bring dying plants back to life. The allotment thrived under Susan’s care and she shared the space openly with families who wanted to get involved. Not only did families learn new skills, they were able to have a safe space to share any concerns and get emotional support from Susan and other volunteers. Despite her cancer returning once again in 2021 and having to keep away from the allotment to keep safe, Susan was always available on the phone for any allotment advice that was needed! 

Marsh Award for Home-Start Trustee of the Year 

Rob Harwood – Home-Start Trafford, Salford and Wigan 

Rob is a longstanding trustee whose guidance and advice over the last 20 years has helped Home-Start Trafford, Salford and Wigan to consistently move forward, developing their service to meet the needs of local people. He has overseen a wealth of growth and development including the merger of Trafford and Salford and the extension of the service into Wigan. He has a strategic vision and can always see areas where the service can be improved to better help local families. Rob has a genuine insight into what it is like to be a Home-Start volunteer working on the ground having started out as a home-visiting volunteer himself. He was one of the first male home-visiting volunteers in the area and was able to provide a unique insight into the struggles of a father, which improved the service he was able to provide. Rob is a trustee who provides an exemplary example of what makes a good trustee. He is astute, visionary and business-savvy, but at the same time he is kind, caring and non-judgemental.