SALFORD CVS 50TH AGM A RESOUNDING SUCCESS FOR SALFORD'S AMAZING VOLUNTEER SERVICES

We attended the 50th Salford CVS Annual General Meeting yesterday evening, this time invited and as voting members.

The event was packed to the rafters with a whole host of wonderful volunteers from Salford's volunteer sector and it was fantastic to talk and network with local groups of volunteers who make a real difference in the city due to their hard work.

Members voted unanimously to accept newcomer Yen Sian Tan to the board of trustees as well as returning member Ben Whaley.

Yen is currently the Operations Manager of the Voluntary Sector North West (VSNW) and was the Chief Executive of a medium sized charity for over 5-years.

Ben has been a trustee for Salford CVS since November 2020 as well as other charity organisations for around 15-years.

So as you can imagine, they bring a wealth of talent and experience with them to the CVS.

Once the formalities of the presentation of the expertly put together annual report had been dealt with, following a short break a number of local groups went head to head in the 'Pitch in 60 Seconds' section to win a cash prize of £1000 towards into their organisations bank accounts.

However there was a last minute unexpected twist in the tale as it was revealed that there would in fact be three winners, with the first place taking home £1000, second place receiving £500 and third place taking home £250.

Top prize was won by Salford Survivors Project following a speech which certainly hit the heart strings, the money going towards helping young girls who have had to endure abuse and rape.

2nd place was won by 'Her Story', a group that works with migrant BAME women, focussing on asylum seekers and refugee women, supporting them though the difficult immigration process while they rebuild their lives here in Salford. 

3rd place went to Sleeping Bag Solutions, of which Dylan gave an amazing speech detailing how  12months next week, he was living in a doorway before being given help to get back on his feet. Last night he gave a powerful speech and earned our vote.

All those who put themselves up in front of their peers for the 60 nerve-racking seconds were winners in our book.

Overall a fantastic night for the volunteer sector of Salford which continues to thrive, flourish and grow under the expert guidance of Salford CVS.