Volunteers’ Week is the national occasion to recognise recruit and reward volunteers. It is an opportunity to say thank you to everyone who gives up their time, their energy and their creativity to make the community a better place. VCH wants to take this chance to say thank you to some of the amazing volunteers who keep Hackney running.
To round off Volunteers’ Week we are going to look at a few more of the Amazing Volunteers in Hackney, as nominated by their volunteer managers.
Name: Nida Dyer
Group: Hackney Police Cadets
Role: Volunteer Police Cadet and Group Leader
Nida has been a Hackney Volunteer Police Cadet for 12 months. Learning quickly and showing an eagerness to take on extra tasks and grab all the opportunities on offer she immediately far exceeded expectations. After this remarkable young lady showed discipline and leadership skills she was encouraged to put an application in for a Lead Cadet position.
After submitting an amazingly well written CV and having a brief interview it was clear she was an outstanding candidate and was awarded the Group Leader position for the Green group. Since then she has been a committed member of the unit and has volunteered for every event that the Hackney VPC staff have organized. These include: the London Marathon, Homerton 5km Fun Run, Victoria Park 5km Run, Remembrance Day, Test Purchase Operations, Safer Neighbourhood Leaflet Drops, Community Awareness Projects, park fete projects, estate projects and crime prevention initiatives.
Nida attends the Wednesday and Thursday Cadet Session and assists in running the evening, without fail she arrives two hours early to help with the admin and is responsible for collating and organizing the AQA worksheets and database, and for sending the paperwork for over 400 qualifications to the AQA Accreditation Unit.
Once introduced to the Bikes2Gambia project she immediately became enthused and volunteered all her spare time to assist with promotion. She helped repair the bikes to get them ready for donation to The Gambia, as she worked towards her Basic Bike Maintenance AQA. Nida participates fully in meetings and is articulate and intelligent and possess the social skills to talk to young people from all backgrounds and drum up enthusiasm for the project.
Nida visited and wrote to schools, youth groups, Churches, Mosques, Synagogues and businesses to gain funding and promote the project. From this she collected 1000 writing books and 5000 pens which were transported out with the bikes and football kit to The Gambia.
Nida is part of a team of 6 Cadets that have set up Hackney Streetz, under the supervision of the Hackney VPC and SO15. They have formed a youth forum so that young people in Hackney can have their voices heard. Nida has taken on the role of Secretary Manager, and is responsible for the piles of paperwork that need to be completed to obtain the necessary funding.
Nida is an amazing role model to other cadets; she never gets flustered and is always calm and collected, as a new cadet she has really shone.
In less than 12 months Nida has become a group leader. She is a positive and inspirational role model and always goes the extra mile to make sure tasks are done. She is a credit to the VPC, her family and herself. As a direct result of her enthusiasm and energy levels more cadets were inspired to get involved in the Hackney Streetz project and make a difference. She is a born leader that exudes confidence and public speaking skills that far exceed 95% of the Metropolitan Police Service employees.
Nida is an extremely passionate and knowledgeable person and is an asset to the VPC. She always has pots of ideas and puts them into action.
Name: Goskan Dede
Group: Hackney Police Cadets (Bikes2Gambia Project)
Role: Volunteer Police Cadet and Group Leader
Goksan joined the Hackney VPC in January 2008. Prior to this he was an active member of a notorious gang. Goksan migrated to gang culture early on his life, had numerous negative interactions with the police and was arrested twice. It was the arrest and conviction of his older brother that shook Goksan up when he saw the way that it affected his mother and younger siblings. Not long after this incident his mother’s boyfriend, a Hackney Police Officer, suggested he try out the police cadets.
Initially Goksan was on the periphery of gang life whilst being a cadet, unknown to the staff at the time. It was not until September 2008 that Goksan began to commit. For his growing enthusiasm and regular attendance he was rewarded with a Bike Maintenance NVQ Course.
In October 2008 the Hackney VPC set up the Bikes2Gambia project. This really struck a cord with Goksan, as one of the selected few chosen for the bike maintenance course he the taught his peers how to fix the 120 bikes that were to be sent to local youth projects and to an HIV orphanage in The Gambia. Goksan assisted at numerous fundraising events, helping raise £10,000 for the project.
The more this young man did the more enthused he became. He began to attend the Police Station, throughout the week to work on this and other cadet projects.
He called up Choice FM, going live on air, to acquire funding forms for the Bikes2Gambia Project, letting all the listeners know about the good work we were doing. Goksan even went on London Tonight and told them how the cadets had rescued him from gang life. Goksan acquired four funding forms and completed them himself. For those of you that have not dealt with funding forms they are not short and they are not simple to complete. On the back of this Hackney VPC were awarded £3,000 by the Hackney Youth Opportunity Fund to be spent on the UK side of the Bikes2Gambia Project.
Goksan took on the role as Project Manager, again completing numerous forms and keeping a balance on invoices and accounts. He took great joy in bossing the staff about in new found role!
Goskan continues to be an inspiration to the cadets, to other young people and to the volunteers and police officers he volunteers alongside.
Name: Zakariya Ahmed
Group: Hackney Police Cadets (Bikes2Gambia Project)
Role: Volunteer Police Cadet and Group Leader
Since becoming a cadet Zakaraiya has achieved four AQA awards in police related subjects and will soon be awarded four AQA’s in Fire related subjects and one in bike maintenance. In 2010 he collected one of the main awards at the Muslim Aid Awards for his services and commitment to the cadets and the Bikes2Gambia Project.
He helped with every single volunteering project that the Hackney Cadets are engaged with and has been the impetus for many of these. Cadet staff are regularly requested to provide cadets for events and Zakariya is always keen to help. He takes a lead, rallying up interest, handing out permission slips and getting the cadets taking part. At events he takes ownership of the cadets and always goes the extra mile.
Zakariya has taken the lead on numerous aspects of the Bikes2Gambia Project which has won 26 awards. He and Goksan Dede have repaired over 275 second bicycles. The pair were also responsible for getting 40 bikes cycled to Finchley to be boxed up and shipped out to The Gambia and getting 30 bikes transported to Enfield to be sent onto orphanages in Tanzania and Kenya.
Zackariya has struggled to break from the shackles and lure of the streets gangs. He has remained strong but that has not deterred the gangs trying to force him back into the fold. Sometimes he receives verbal abuse for leaving the gangs and being a police cadet, but he has carried on with his volunteering regardless.
As a direct result of his enthusiasm and energy levels countless youth in Hackney have engaged with the police on the estate projects. He is heavily involved in a new project set up by the Cadets and Hackney Prevent (SO15), Hackney Streetz. Big things are expected of this and he has dived straight in and is an integral part of this project. He set up a cricket match with a Scottish Muslim Community Group. Zakarayia arranged their stay at a Mosque for two nights and organised the Hackney team. Such a success and a comfortable stay was the touring side’s trip that they have invited the Hackney side to play the next fixture in Scotland and it is hoped that this will be an annual fixture.
He has an amazing ability to socialise and interact with younger peers and be a positive role model in a way that no police officer could ever achieve. Whilst it is impossible to record or gage the impact that the cadets have as role models his leaders are convinced that he has convinced many young people in Hackney that crime is not the answer and there are other opportunities out there.
