23 April 2015 Hayley Best - Barnardos

President elect Mary Fraser was in the chair and introduced Hayley best who is Community Fundraising Volunteer Manager - East of Scotland for Barnardo's.
Originally from Northern Ireland, Hayley studied primary teaching at the University of Edinburgh then spent some time teaching in Forres, Moray before moving to Glasgow to pursue a career in the charity sector. She is passionate about Barnardo's as she cares deeply about the welfare of children.
Hayley's talk covered an overview of the organisation which will be 150 years old next year, a review of the current activities of the charity and a look at some of the local projects.
Barnardo's is the 7th most recognised charity out of a total of around 185,000 listed charities; it employs some 8,000 staff in the UK and its purpose is to transform the lives of the UK's most vulnerable children.
The founder, Thomas Barnardo, opened the first home for boys in Stepney, London in 1870, was a founder member of the NSPCC and by 1892, had 4,000 children in homes across 7 cities.
Scotland looks after 26,500 children and their families, has 122 community services and 1300 volunteers. Hayley was particularly proud to note that 92p in every pound raised goes on care for children. There are 8 services operating in the Stirling and Clacks area providing practical support to children and families. While society has changed a lot in the last 150 years, Hayley noted that many of the issues around children had not.
Jim Gardner gave a well-deserved vote of thanks to Hayley for an excellent and passionate talk.
Barnardo's website is: www.barnardos.org.uk ; on Facebook, www.facebook.com/barnardos or follow them on www.twitter.com/barnardos