CharityComms

It largely comes under the heading of internal and external communications – we’re a membership organisation, so make sure our members are informed: via our newsletter, which I edit, our e-news emails and our website. I am also involved with organising an annual conference and year-round resourcing of our project partnership scheme to our members.

I am also heavily involved with planning and organising our ‘big’ annual meeting – over 2000 folk! – as well as training voluntary stewards for that. I am also charged with organising our annual promotional event – Guild Week.

I became involved with it through my personal church life – I became more involved in the life and work of my own church, and having spent time in Personnel and in clerical support for the council’s Social Work department, I felt that this job would combine whatever skills I might have gained with my interest in the church.

I don’t know that there is a typical day! Your planned day can quite easily turn out quite differently once you see what the post and the emails bring! As a Presbyterian church, our work is governed by committee – we have five of them, so often there are meetings to attend and things to do after them. I also go out and speak at various Guild meetings, so my day can involve travelling, although these things usually happen in the evening or at weekends.

There have been various initiatives that have arisen since I started which I have taken forward – these ‘big’ tasks give me a buzz – for example we had a year-long banner exhibition which involved a lot of work and logistical planning, of which I am particularly proud. And our Guild Week initiative too involves a lot of planning and organising.

The opportunities it provides to meet our members – Guild members are amazingly driven people – they do an amazing amount for the Church as a whole, their congregations and local communities.

I can never think very much about that – I would miss all the Guild folk, and all that involves, too much. Although my building society may be the one that indicates when I should be moving on!

Church of Scotland Guild
www.cos-guild.org.uk