The Post Pals Team
Team Photo Kat Ramsey, Janice Cheetham (Princes Trust), Vix Miles, Viks George, and Sarah Louise Bedford.
About the Team
It’s fair to say the team didn’t meet in the best of circumstances! Ill health threw them together at a difficult time in their lives, yet each wanted to be doing something while they where unable to work or attend college. Viks had been surfing around the Internet one night September 2002 and found make a child smile - but thinking Kat would laugh at her; it took her over a week to explain the idea to her! Kat was thrilled with the idea and started making plans and writing the text. Initially, they planned to fund it off their own backs and spend a few hours every week maintaining, but Vik’s ill health and Kat’s hospital admissions meant the plans where put to one side. It wasn’t until 9 months later that Vix, Kat and Viks were on a three way call and the project idea came up again. We started planning, with three of us it was sure to work.
Vix happened to be cleaning her room one day and found forms from the Princes Trust. On the off chance she gave them a call, just to find out it was only a few days before the applications had to be in! So we started some intense work, answering their questions, writing letters, collecting references and writing a budget. It was all too much; it seemed silly to try to cope alone. Early one morning, Viks and Kat called Anna (who has had to take a step back due to improving health) and Sarah, friends of theirs from AYME who both jumped at the idea. The application forms where signed and sent off, no easy task considering we live in 5 different counties!
For weeks we stayed by the phone, until mid July when we got the call. We had made it to the second round and they requested a meeting with one of us. Vix got to work answering the new questions they had for us, and for ease Viks arranged the meeting in her home. It was shockingly easy and after we sat and waited. On the evening of the 27th of August 2003 we received conformation of our award of £12,350 which was very scary! In just under a year, we had gone from a little idea one night to large a project, I think we all found it hard to take in.
Nothing could have prepared as for the amount of work we suddenly had on our plates. Both Kat and Anna were in hospital, which didn’t help. The first designs for the website where completed by Sarah, Vix started to manage our accounts, Kat re started on the forms and paper work, while Viks made plans for the gifts. Lots of friends and family offered to help and volunteers too. We started having weekly 5 way meetings. The bank account was opened and the stress levels continued to rise. We gave in on the web design and Richard offered his assistance. The first few pages where being uploaded while Viks and Vix contacted groups where we hoped to find some future Pals.
We had a few problems with hosting and many trying to send cheques around the country to be counter signed during the postal strike. In November, our volunteers gathered contact details of a few hundred charities for us and we started making phone calls. It took a while, but the forms started pouring in. James R was the first Pal to get his completed paper work to us!
Anna left the team just before Christmas 2003 to focus her time on other things and 5 weeks later Emma Hoole, one of the projects volunteers, joined the team and the work load attached to it.
So here we are, July 1st, ready to launch. We really hope Post Pals can be the success it deserves to be.
All team members and volunteers have completed an enhanced CRB (police) check, and are suitable to work with children.
