A County Down woman has been honoured for her long-term volunteering commitments with NSPCC Northern Ireland.
Barbara Walker has been involved with the leading children’s charity since 2006 after initially attending an NSPCC information evening in her home town of Bangor.
Since then she has devoted her time to the charity’s Young Witness Service and its North Down Fundraising Committee.
She was made an honorary member of the NSPCC council and was presented with her award at a recent ceremony in Belfast attended by NSPCC CEO Peter Wanless and several NSPCC Northern Ireland staff and colleagues.
Speaking about her honour, Barbara said: “I am absolutely delighted. I started volunteering to help children, not for awards.
“I was given my award at a lovely presentation in Belfast which was attended by husband and other Young Witness Service volunteers.
“Before I retired, I was a teacher and YWS is still very much in my area as I am continuing to help children.”
Barbara initially joined the NSPCC’s North Down Fundraising Committee and has been an active member of the group ever since, holding the position of committee chairman since 2007.
Over the years the committee has organised pamper days, cinema nights, annual quiz & flag days.
Under Barbara’s leadership the committee is always trying to think of new ways to raise money, to engage with the local community and raise awareness of the NSPCC’s work.
The retired teacher and school vice principal, has also been a member of the NSPCC’s Northern Ireland Regional Forum since 2010.
Barbara also decided to become a volunteer for the NSPCC’s Young Witness Service and has been volunteering with the charity’s unique scheme for 12 years.
Barbara’s role with the Young Witness Service is to support children and young people who are giving evidence in court.
The Young Witness Service is unique to Northern Ireland and provides support for hundreds of children and young people under the age of 18 who have to go through the often-traumatic process of giving evidence in court.
Volunteering for Young Witness can be difficult for volunteers as details of the case and the evidence emerges and it also involves a substantial time commitment as court cases can take many days or even weeks and are frequently delayed.
Despite this Barbara has supported a range of young people in complex Crown Court cases as well as Magistrates and Youth Court cases.
Barbara supports children and their families in Laganside Courts in Belfast as well as Newtownards and Downpatrick Court and has supported over 60 cases in these courts over the past three years alone.
Billy Eagleson, volunteer co-ordinator with the YWS said: “Barbara is a very well-liked and respected member of the YWS volunteer team. She is generous with both her time and expertise both in terms of supporting the children and their families but also in supporting less experienced volunteers who are new to the role.”
Catherine Nuttall, head of fundraising at NSPCC Northern Ireland said: “I am delighted that Barbara has received this prestigious award from the NSPCC in recognition of her volunteering and also the fantastic fundraising she has developed in the North Down area.
“As chairman of the NSPCC’s North Down Fundraising Committee Barbara has shown great leadership and along with all the wonderful committee members has organised a fantastic range of fun events which have raised much needed funding to support our work with local children and young people.
“At the NSPCC we depend on voluntary donations for almost 90% of our income and quite simply we couldn’t provide support and keep children and young people safe without committees like our North Down committee and special people like Barbara.”
For more information on volunteering with the NSPCC’s Young Witness Service or any of our fundraising committees go to:
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-you-can-do/volunteering-nspcc-childline/
