Events will be getting a rocket boost

Its a big day for us - we have recruited our first employee, having been a volunteer-only organisation for nearly 2 years.

We had a strong field for the Events and Outreach Coordinator, with the closing date in early August. We are delighted to be able to announce that we have been able to make an appointment, and the successful candidate is Suzi Jones, a long standing volunteer with us!

Suzi stumbled across Refresh in the ‘old old’ shop when we had just started back in 2022. She was randomly walking through the Chiltern Shopping Centre on a Saturday afternoon only a few weeks after we had opened and fell in love with it. She became a Trustee for several years, developing our branding, the newsletter and designing our shop fronts.

She took a step back a few years ago to focus on her business, Brywood Studios, which is in the film and photoshoot business, including designing and building sets (using sustainably sourced materials and reclaimed wood where they can - of course!), along with a prop hire library, and the offer of media training.

But she stayed on as a volunteer, helping behind the scenes, including our wonderful shopfront displays, so it is delightful that we are able to offer the role of events and outreach coordinator to a volunteer.

Suzi is a born communicator and creative spirit. She started her career at the Royal Opera House, and since then has been a Creative Director and Producer for the Narrative Glue Creative, and more recently the Curve Productions, where she has built strong relationships with a range of clients and stakeholders, run event programmes, and demonstrated her marketing skills including social media.

We are grateful to the National Lottery Reaching Communities Fund, and to the Rothschild Foundation, for providing the grant funding that has allowed us to offer Suzi a 3-day-a-week fixed term contract for 3 years.

The funding has provided the opportunity for two part time posts. We were unable to recruit to the Partnerships and Waste Co-ordinator role, and are having a rethink about that before deciding on next steps.

We have had a long standing ambition to get an events programme going, and, as many of you know, we have a perfect space at the back of our shop. So we look forward to it buzzing with creative activities, opportunities to learn new skills, bringing people together, and playing our part in living lighter on the planet at the same time.