Sa’ad volunteers with our After School Club, where he helps to create a safe and welcoming environment where children can come to have fun and to learn. He’s been volunteering with us for several years now, but his story goes back over 70 years, when his family moved to find safety in the UK.
“I have been volunteering with Abbey Centre for over six years, following an advertisement in the Metro that asked for a volunteer to work with the community but also had a possible background in education and could speak Arabic.
I am a former London headteacher and senior educator with a childhood knowledge of Arabic – but had already been volunteering in Greenwich with their learning team at the Old Royal Naval College for over five years since my retirement.
I assist every Monday afternoon at a 2 hour session for primary children in Art and Painting. The class is very popular with a regular attendance of over 25 children of differing ages. The session starts with “healthy snacks” and simple games that allow these keen youngsters to settle before a more formal session lead by an art leader (Ayesha). My role is to assist and organise – along with Jens Viktor we are capable “grandfather figures” to the children, but also part of a larger team that offers a high adult to child supervision ratio appropriate to the setting. It is a caring, safe, firm but fair environment in which parents have confidence. The class receives support for materials from the Lyon Trust organised through Abbey.
Some 70 years ago I left the Middle East in the wake of war and the Suez crisis to come to this country. I could not get a place in school for two months and spent my hours reading, playing, drawing and painting with my older brother. Strangely enough, we learnt of a BBC national art competition run by Tony Hart and both entered pictures which won selection to his television gallery. I still have a letter newspaper photograph and BBC certificate. So I perhaps see myself in the enjoyment of this class and its achievements. We put on a public display of our work at Abbey last month and it was really pleasing to see children with great pride bringing their siblings and parents to see their presented work.
Recently, I was asked by the Abbey Centre to train as a guide for community visitors at the Tower of London. This means that in future I can bring parents and children to look at art and history there with the aid of a funded bursary from Historic Royal Palaces. I have had a similar role in Greenwich for the last ten years. However I am pleased that I could extend my skills for the Abbey Centre through the offer of additional training.
At the Abbey Centre we are a community “family” and I get a small but significant time reward from both Greenwich and Westminster as Tempo credits by way of a thank you for my hours and which I have started to use for cultural events.”
Volunteer with us
At The Abbey Centre, our work depends on the support of amazing volunteers like Sa’ad. You can find out more about volunteering at The Abbey Centre on our Volunteering page.
