Community
They've saved us £2 million - nineties star Muriel leads volunteering heroes
September 17, 2015 11:00
A woman in her 90s who has volunteered in Norwood's finance department for 23 years received a lifetime accolade at the charity's volunteer awards for those who have been inspirational ambassadors.
Presenting the award to Muriel Kauffer at the central London ceremony, judging panel chair Rachael Davis Stollar said: "Muriel is one of our most respected and admired volunteers. Her resilient spirit and determination are an inspiration. Her smile is infectious, her spirit is indomitable, and there is no such word as 'no' in her vocabulary."
The award winner said it had been "overwhelming" to be chosen. I treat volunteering like a job. It's good to work for such a good cause and they do such a lot. I've been there for so long, I feel it's part of my life. They are such a wonderful group of colleagues and everyone is so friendly."
William Beedham and Orli West shared the young volunteer accolade. Dan Adler took the fundraising volunteer award and the star supporter prize went to Brenda Garfield. The outstanding contribution award went to Drugsline's "magnificent seven" - Nicola Elmon, Simon Freedman, Dana Khan, Jeannie Levy, David Lipman, Cristina Preda and Sandy Rapp.
Norwood chair David Ereira said afterwards: "It was a privilege for me to be in the room with so many amazing people who give their time and energy to support Norwood. Volunteers really are the lifeblood of the charity, working across every single service. This year, our volunteers have contributed more than 180,000 hours of their time, saving Norwood a very impressive £2 million."