{"id":99,"date":"2022-12-10T17:21:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-10T17:21:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/?p=99"},"modified":"2022-12-10T21:00:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-10T21:00:47","slug":"an-ode-to-our-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/2022\/12\/10\/an-ode-to-our-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"An Ode to Our Volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A special commission for International Development Organisation, VSO, to commemorate their incredible volunteers at the Annual VSO Volunteer Awards in December 2022. A challenging brief with some hard hitting subject matter (and very long words to fit in!) but a real honour to write. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As the end of another year nears<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We gather as VSO peers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To wow and amaze<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And share in our praise<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all of our great volunteers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

These special awards give us pride<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all those who\u2019ve worked side by side<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From community trainers<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To online campaigners<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And those who brought skills far and wide    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

From helping young girls access school<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And championing health-rights for all<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To incomes surviving\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

..then growing and thriving <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No challenge too big or too small<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Through lockdowns, flooding and fire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The contexts were fragile and dire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But working together<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every endeavour<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your courage and grit would not tire<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

In communities often-maligned<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where stigma and hardship combined<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You made access fair<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With kindness and care<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So no one would be left behind <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Our youth-led approach was alive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With passion, commitment and drive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You tackled taboos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brought skills and fresh views<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And helped many thousands to thrive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The change that we all see appearing<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takes time and some real persevering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So some are partaking<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In long-term change-making<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Impact Beyond Volunteering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

While all<\/em> of our finalists wowed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are four special winners allowed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commitment they\u2019ve given<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And changes they\u2019ve driven<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Made each of our panel so proud<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Now without any further ado<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ll end with a statement so true<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The impact you\u2019ve made<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Will last and cascade<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So for all that you\u2019ve done, we thank you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A special commission for International Development Organisation, VSO, to commemorate their incredible volunteers at the Annual VSO Volunteer Awards in December 2022. A challenging brief with some hard hitting subject matter (and very long words to fit in!) but a real honour to write. As the end of another year nears We gather as VSO […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"hide_page_title":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":159,"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99\/revisions\/159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/limericksforlife.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}