Excited to meet you all!

Hey, I’m Louise and I am the new Volunteer Development Officer at Engage Renfrewshire and I am thoroughly looking forward to meeting you all!

A little bit about myself – I studied History at Strathclyde University, I used to be a coffee roaster and I am Mum to a little sausage dog called Luna. I have volunteered in my local community from a young age in many different forms and at different stages throughout my life, including Girl Guiding, the Scottish Association of Mental Health, classroom and nursery assistants, and social media volunteering. As a result of this I have first-hand experience of the power of volunteering and the impact it can have on an individual. I simply wouldn’t be in the role I am in today at Engage if it wasn’t for the power of volunteering!

My passion and drive for volunteering has allowed me to secure previous roles in CTSI (another TSI in Clackmannanshire), Volunteering Matters, Project Scotland and Age Scotland. My role in Clackmannanshire remains close to my heart, running a fantastic project called Equip Mentoring where we matched up young people aged 15-18 who were not in employment, education and training with a bespoke mentor to support them to achieve a positive destination. We matched over 100 young people!

My role at Engage is to continue to support local volunteering activity, co-ordinate the Saltire Awards across Renfrewshire and host regular forums for the Volunteer Manager Forum which gives the opportunity to share best practise, discuss emerging issues and facilitate partnership working. I have a strong desire to contribute to positive change; to individuals, groups and communities as a whole. No matter how big or small the difference.

Although I am not from Renfrewshire, it became very apparent very quickly what a strong, vibrant and collaborative community it is with a wealth of local support, advice and opportunities available. I am really excited to get out and about in community, meet you all and hear about the wonderful work you do!