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UK Development - December 2010
DA Conference,
Leeds - November 13th, 2010
 Once
a year, all the
Smiles DA’s
(Development Associates) of the
United Kingdom get together for a Conference to hear news and updates
on the Projects as well as Plans for the Future and spend some
discussing the progress, along with the high and lows of the DA’s
daily challenge.
The role has developed over several years and indeed, the number of
DA’s has grown significantly.
Nearly 10 years ago when Smiles was establishing itself and the work
across the UK, we had one Development Associate for the UK.
Margaret Macgregor
– who lived on the Scottish Borders and did a fantastic job at
establishing Smiles in those early days.
When Margaret needed to retire, we looked at having some extra DA’s to
assist with the growing Organisation. So, around 2005, we extended to
3 DA’s – Ann Cowan in
Scotland, Penny Kennedy in Northern Ireland and Anna Quelch for
England & Wales. Once
again, the increased number of DA’s did a wonderful job in increasing
the awareness and impact of Smiles in the United Kingdom, raising
financial support for the work in Romania.
 By
2008, when Anna Quelch needed to retire, we decided Wales needed its
own DA and Leah
Slaymaker joined while
England needed 6 DA’s and the country was split into 6 regions all
with their own DA.
So, now we have 9 DA’s
in the United Kingdom,
but with Penny Kennedy retiring on December 31st,
Barbara Morrison in
County Antrim is taking the lead role for Northern Ireland, but now
with the help of 3 Regional DA’s in Ireland located in County Armagh,
County Fermanagh and County Tyrone.
All the Development
Associates (a
voluntary role) are in turn greatly supported in their areas by
Ambassadors who assume responsibility for a smaller area or even a
single Church for keeping the work of Smiles in the ‘spotlight’.
Details of our Development Associates and their Contact details can be
found on the Organisation’s
Web-page.
Although November 13th was an important ‘Business Meeting’ where lots
of serious issues were discussed, the overriding comments from DA’s
about the day was: |
- It is always good to get
together.
- It was interesting to
hear the wider picture.
- The lunch buffet was
lovely!!!
- Having ambassadors /
prospective ambassadors in attendance was very worthwhile and
ensures important information is past on to those who need to know.
- Finding out it more
detail about the new projects - Farm ... Glasshouse… Joint Facility
of Love - was very helpful and allows us to speak about these with
greater knowledge during presentations.
- Good to hear about
future plans of Nia concerts, Kevin’s tour etc;
- Enjoyed the relaxed
format of the conference even though serious issues were being
addressed.
…. Hope the conference continues in future years.
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Although Smiles enjoys having 9
DA’s now plus some regional DA’s in Northern Ireland and many
Ambassadors across the country – all doing an amazing job, we need
more!
Yes, more DA’s, more
Ambassadors, more Supporters to help us get the word out, fulfil more
speaking engagements, more school assemblies, more fund-raisers and so
on.
Could you
help?
If you have some time spare and a desire to help us, contact the Leeds
office or your area DA to discuss how you can help. Maybe you can
start with some small events, see how you feel and move on to bigger
challenges as knowledge and confidence grows.
For sure, there is a great team of people ready to help you and as the
team grows, so we can help more people in need in Romania.
 The
Smiles Foundation are very grateful to a huge team of supporters
who do a fantastic job
year after year raising amazing funds for the work Smiles does in
Romania. But here we would like to say a very special ‘Thank You’ to
our Development Associates,
especially Penny who retires at
the end of the month,
for all the work they have done and continue to do and after you’ve
had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends, you’ll be ready to
help make the New Year ‘Happy’ for more people in Romania.
God Bless you all.
The Smiles Foundation |
Previous Reports
Scotland, November 2010
Wales,
October 2010
Northern Ireland, September 2010
North East, August 2010
South East, July 2010
Southern Counties, June 2010
North West, May 2010
North Midlands, March 2010
Scotland, February 2010
South East
Counties, January 2010
Southern Counties, December 09
North East, November 09
South
West, October 09
Northern Ireland, September 09
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