On reading the news yesterday, it left me just as concerned and heartbroken about @oxfamgb and its international operations. I thought it might be a good idea to explain why...in a thread (buckle up, it's quite a story): https://twitter.com/m_sherrington/status/1263406566042226688
I began volunteering for @Oxfamfestivals in 2003. Fresh out of Uni, it gave me the chance to still go to @OfficialRandL when fewer of my friends wanted to go. I'm still in contact with the girl I pitched my tent next to, who lives in Cork...
The following year I volunteered at three festivals and I was hooked! The funny story about stewarding from this firetower in the car park at @WOMADfestival was that as I started on a nightshift and it was dark, I didn't realise the half of the field in front of me was empty!
The skills I've learned in a movable festival environment have given me so much. I've learned to think quickly, consider the impact of the decisions made and make the most of a temporary site with limited resources...all while helping to raise thousands every year for @oxfamgb
But it didn't just stop at festivals. I've cheered on runners at the London Marathon, seeing their pain after 23 miles. I've collected donations on the door at special @Cirque performances in aid of @oxfamgb and been given the opportunity to watch from a box!
I've handed out Oxfam Unwrapped catalogues in Canary Wharf station and been blown away by someone wanting to sign up for a ยฃ120 per month donation on the spot...
Not to mention stewarding on the door on the opening day of the Banksy exhibition @bristolmuseum and dancing in the centre of Oxford for Oxjam...
And slightly more randomly, been the first @Ocado customer at a UK festival ๐Ÿ˜‚
Many probably won't realise that beyond raising millions of pounds to help lift others out of poverty, volunteering with @oxfamgb automatically makes you part of the #oxfamily which for me has led to attending weddings in Sydney and Italy...
Not just weddings though, everything from births of babies, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 70th birthday parties, camping holidays in the middle of winter, renting youth hostels and sadly funerals - we've shared it all together #oxfamily
And then, just a couple of years ago I was support crew for a team taking on @TrailwalkerUK Walking 100km in under 30 hours is no mean feat and I was proud to do my bit to help! (mainly feeding them snacks and throwing clean socks at them)
Which then unexpectedly led to a relationship with someone who I had known through @Oxfamfestivals for 13 years! (Who had also been volunteering for his local Oxfam shop for over 15 years...)
So whoever needs to hear it within @oxfamgb , the world has never needed you more, you're doing a great job and sending all the love and hope that the organisation will rise again in the future ๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š๐Ÿ’š #oxfamilylovesyou #StandAsOne #Oxfam
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