4th Anniversary Event Update
We hosted the SOS Bus 4th Anniversary event at the Ulster Reform Club, Belfast on Wednesday 23rd November.
As well as celebrating our 4th birthday, the theme of the evening was ‘Building Partnerships to make a Difference’. We took the opportunity to thank our existing sponsors for their support and communicate to those not yet engaged what SOS Bus is and how they can get involved to help improve the problems we face in society today.
We had a number of guest speakers at the event. The main speaker was Alex Attwood (Minister of the Environment). The Minister spoke about how he feels about some of the problems we face in society and of the many inspiring people he has met who take responsibility for their communities needs and seek inclusive solutions to enable positive social change.
Robert Murdie from the PSNI spoke about the strong partnership between SOS Bus and the PSNI and thanked the SOS volunteers for their dedication in helping vulnerable individuals needing support and care in the early hours each weekend.
One of our own volunteers Flo Lucas spoke about how she was inspired to become a volunteer after her daughter was helped by SOS Bus last year. She explained how she felt when she came to collect her daughter and met the wonderful volunteers who had cared for her, helped reunite her with her mum and get her home safely.
Joe Hyland (CEO, SOS Bus) then spoke about what SOS Bus has achieved in the past and what we hope to achieve in the future. He described the core SOS ethos and the importance of giving our best whilst expecting nothing in return before passing over to Michele McKendry (Funding & Development Manager). Michele talked about the quality and commitment of the SOS Bus volunteers that she has encountered since joining the organisation and the great volunteering experience that doing a shift on the bus can bring. She explained how private companies can work with us and have their employees benefit from this experience whilst supporting a very worthwhile charitable cause. Please see Team Challenge in our Corporate Fundraising section for more details.
Recognition awards were then presented by Peter Lunn, one of our Board of Directors, to organisations that have supported SOS over the years. Awards went to the PSNI, Henderson’s Retail, Johnson’s Coffee, and Ulster Garden Villages.
Peter then closed the evening by talking about his passion for SOS Bus and thanking the volunteers for their hard work and commitment. Finally Peter talked about the future of the organisation and our need for extra funding to continue our much needed services and to allow SOS Bus some scope to grow.
The evening was a great success and we will keep you informed of any new Corporations that want to partner with us.
Thank you for your ongoing support.
