What do our Ambassadors do?
As a York Cares Ambassador, you’ll play an important role in getting employees from your organisation involved in initiatives that make a positive impact on our local community.
You’ll help raise awareness of projects people can get involved in, maximising participation from within your organisation. And of course, in doing so, you’ll be making a huge difference to your local community yourself.
You’ll also be the main point of contact for York Cares and will keep York Cares up to date about anything related to volunteering within your organisation.
What does this look like in practice?
You’ll:
- share York Cares communications with employees at your organisation and encourage engagement in opportunities
- listen to employees at your organisation to identify their interests in terms of volunteering opportunities
- share best practice with other Ambassadors – and learn from each other
- join quarterly Operations Board meetings plus bi-annual meetings with York Cares
- provide York Cares with feedback on opportunities to help inform programme development
And what’s in it for you?
You’ll:
- make a direct positive impact on your local community
- develop new skills
- raise your profile within your organisation
- build a network of like-minded people across other companies
To learn more about what it’s like to be an Ambassador, read about Lucy Pagliaro’s experiences.
“Acting as an Ambassador for York Cares is one of the best parts of my role at Portakabin. Not only does it help me connect with organisations which support my community in and around York. But I also get to understand the immediate impact of all the volunteering, fundraising and hard work that my colleagues put in! Our regular Operations Board meetings also help link our organisation up with local charities and organisations which are most in need. It’s definitely one of my Top 5 meetings to attend!”
Joselyn Rankin, Head of Communications at Portakabin and York Cares Ambassador
Our Ambassadors:
Elain Hughes, Ardent
Elain is the business director at Ardent, and is also a Trustee and Treasurer for Peasholme Charity and has done lots of volunteer work mentoring younger children with City of York Council and RAY.
Anita Bartholomew, Aviva
Anita works in the Actuarial Existing Business team at Aviva. Within Aviva Anita is part of the External Community Group, book club, and weekly yoga classes.
Vanessa Taylor, Aviva
Vanessa works in the Aviva customer tracing team, where they try to link up family members with policies that belonged to lost loved ones.
Lucy Pagliaro, Benenden Health
Lucy is the Engagement and Wellbeing Co-ordinator at Benenden Health. Lucy looks after engagement and wellbeing activities and initiatives across Benenden.
Sam Dias, boxxe
Sam is boxxe’s Community and Social Value Partner. She manages boxxe’s community programme and assists in the delivery of social value. Sam loves animals…Possibly more than humans!
Lisa Mellor, Cabinet Office
Lisa works in the Cabinet Office Commercial Function as a Supplier Relationship Management Lead and serves as Volunteering Representative for their York Community Forum.
Alison Cammiss, City of York Council
Alison is Volunteer Manager for Children, Young People and Families for City of York Council, she supports vulnerable families across the City, mentoring young people and parents.
Michal Czekajlo, City of York Council
Michal works for the City of York Council as a Community Officer, and can often be found at our Social Club's supporting our work.
Sarah Harling, ETAS
Sarah is the HR Lead for ETAS in York and is responsible for the company’s STEM and community activities.
Gary Nash, 4Life Wealth Management
When not at work Gary’s passion has been field hockey, recently representing England Masters but as age catches up he has moved his attention to improving his golf handicap.
Hannah Chantler, Grand Central Rail
I'm enthusiastic about collaborating with York Cares to inspire young children and educate them about the diverse opportunities available within the rail industry.
Dawn Paterson, Hiscox
Dawn works for Hiscox as a PA as support for three Senior Executives, and chairs the Social and Charity Committee at Hiscox.
Kate Wiggins, LNER
Kate joined LNER in late 2023 to head up the Employee Experience team. The golden thread running through Kate’s career is the desire to help people reach their potential and get the most out of work.
Rachael Wilson, LNER
I’m the Community Investment Manager responsible for the LNER Customer and Community Investment Fund.
Katy Sawyer, OneBright
Katy is Chief People's Officer at OneBright, and leads on Environment and Social aspects of OneBright's governance.
Monica Green, Partners PR
Monica is the co-owner of one of York’s leading PR agencies, which has been supporting York Cares since its inception.
Louise Gregory, Portakabin
What is especially rewarding about being an Ambassador is being able to organise Team Challenges, getting to know my colleagues better and the causes they are passionate about making a difference to.
Fran MacKenzie, Systra
Frances MacKenzie is the Early Careers Lead, working within the Learning and Talent Development Team. She is a volunteer Enterprise Advisor and supports the Wellness agenda across the UK and Ireland.
Sonra Smith, The Insurance Emporium
Sonra is the Engagement and Wellbeing Officer at The Insurance Emporium and is passionate about our people.
Penny Foster, York St John University
Penny is Head of Learning and Organisational Development at York St John University. Penny is passionate about empowering people to have an impact on their community.
