Launching new Charity Ambassador role!

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We are delighted to launch a new volunteer role aimed at professionals who want to give back to charity by donating their skills or professional insight.

Lisa Grainger, SensationALL’s fundraising and marketing manager, says: “Volunteers are an invaluable extension to our staff team and the ambassador role is a new flexible role that can be tailored to suit your interests and availability. There are no set hours and many ways to get involved, whether that’s promoting our events, connecting us with local businesses and schools or simply being a public face of the charity.

The role of an ambassador can take many forms; from attending events on behalf of the charity to talk about our services to reaching out to organisations for fundraising support or donations. It’s important to remember that the role can be bespoke to you as an individual too; allowing you to further awareness of the charity in a way that you are comfortable. This is really valuable to the charity as it allows us to reach out to new people, create fundraising opportunities and help create positive awareness among local communities.

The benefits of volunteering

Ambassadors also benefit personally, Lisa adds: “Our volunteers tell us they get a huge amount of enjoyment from their roles as they expand their understanding of neurodivergence, meet new people, add value to their CVs and most importantly, have fun!

Plus, the huge amount of satisfaction in seeing our small, local charity grow and thrive – volunteers can be proud that they’re making a positive difference. Any amount of time people can give is greatly appreciated and will help us achieve our charitable goals of supporting more people across the northeast.” 

Ambassadors in action

Claire Muir, owner of Little Black Dog Media and parent of a SensationALL attendee, is one of the charity’s first ambassadors. She describes why she wanted to get involved:

“As someone who’s seen first-hand how SensationALL supports families, I wanted to give back. But with work and young children, I couldn’t commit to anything regular.

Lisa suggested I help on an ad-hoc basis with copywriting. There’s no pressure, but I’ve already helped a few times and it feels fantastic to support the charity in a way that works for me.” 

Get in touch

Could you be our next ambassador? To find out more about becoming a SensationALL ambassador contact volunteering@sensationall.org.uk  

We are a Volunteer Charter Champion!

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SensationALL has signed up as a Charter Champion with Volunteer Scotland! When the charity began in 2011, we were initially a wholly volunteer run organisation but, even after staff were employed, the contribution of volunteers remained integral to our service delivery. Over the years, thousands of hours have been donated to us and we consider each volunteer to be an asset who’s contribution cannot be undervalued!

As a result, we are proud to follow the 10 principles set out by the Volunteer Charter and strive for best practice across all areas of volunteering.

>>> Take a look at the 10 Volunteer Charter principles here.

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How does this shape volunteering at SensationALL?

Volunteers can choose their roles

SensationALL wants to ensure that volunteers know they have free choice over the type of role they wish to take on. We have a wide variety of roles which we publicise but we are also open to hearing from volunteers with specific skills and interests which may be beneficial to the charity’s operations.

Our volunteer handyman, Donald, is a great example of this! Donald brings a range of skills and knowledge that help us complete small projects that we otherwise would struggle with. His skills are helping transform the charity for the better.

Furthermore, as a small organisation with restricted budgets, it simply isn’t possible for us to employ staff to fulfil every necessary business role so we rely upon the expertise, knowledge and skills of many professionals who are willing to support our administrative and management processes. Our board of trustees are all volunteers with a wide set of skills and backgrounds so they can oversee our governance and strategically guide us.

Volunteers feel safe, supported and included

Regardless of role, The Charter helps us create an environment where every volunteer is welcomed with open arms and enjoy their experience so they will want to come back time after time.

We take care to make sure all our volunteers feel a part of the SensationALL family and we strive to make all of our opportunities inclusive. The charter reminds us to ensure volunteers feel capable of carrying out their roles and are given opportunities to develop skills through training and mentoring. Using the charter principles also means that we focus on taking on board volunteer views and options and use these to shape the direction of the charity.

We are delighted to be a Charter Champion and excited about how the 10 principles will help us to create an environment where we feel supported by excellent volunteers and our volunteers feel supported by an organisation that truly values them.

If you are interested in volunteering with SensationALL please get in touch – volunteering@sensationall.org.uk

SensationALL volunteers!

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Volunteers are the backbone of what we do and we wouldn’t accomplish so much without them. Our volunteers mirror our values, and are an invaluable extension of our team. One volunteer who has proved to be priceless is our maintenance volunteer, Donald who the staff have unofficially entitled “Superman”.

Donald started volunteering with us shortly after retiring. He knew about the charity due to the support SensationALL had provided for his Autistic grandson. As someone who likes to be busy, he simply wasn’t ready to ‘do nothing’ so, his daughter suggested he might be well suited to helping with facility and maintenance jobs around our centre, The Old Schoolhouse in Westhill.

Throughout 2022, Donald’s contributions proved to be invaluable to us as he can turn his hand to pretty much anything! He surpassed all our expectations in undertaking DIY tasks such as painting and decorating through to skilled work upgrading fixtures in the building. His efforts to the improve the Old Schoolhouse have not only enhanced the aesthetics but, importantly, increased safety for the children and adults with complex needs who use the building.

He is always eager to complete jobs as soon as they are given and no matter how obscure the request may be; he thinks outside the box to fulfil our ideas. He excelled himself with his carpentry skills when he fitted out our new van with bespoke shelving and storage for transporting our sensory equipment.

Donald’s biggest project to date has been the installation of a soft play frame which transformed our facilities. He roped in his cousin, Sam and the pair used their creativity and initiative to reconfigure the second-hand equipment to fit our space. As always, he tackled the task with positivity and a “can do” attitude and never gets deterred when things have to be adapted to suit our unique needs due to our work with individuals with sensory and behavioural issues.

Donald has undoubtably saved the charity hundreds of pounds in maintenance costs and trades people and we simply cannot express the extent of our gratitude to him for his unwavering dedication and enthusiasm.

Recently, Donald has experienced health issues, including undergoing major surgery. However, he played this down to us saying it’s “no big deal” and that he wanted to keep volunteering. Donald shows no signs of slowing down during his ongoing medical treatment and despite our protests for him to take it easy, he continues to pop in to see what jobs he can do!

Volunteers frequently tell us that they “get out as much as they put in” but we are totally indebted to all our generous volunteers who make a huge difference to our charity.

If you are interested in volunteering with us, there is more information here or get in touch at, volunteering@sensationall.org.uk

CML take on a “SensationALL” project

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A team of volunteers from Aberdeen-based midstream infrastructure business CATS Management Limited (CML) have shown their ongoing commitment to local charity SensationALL by rolling up their sleeves for two days of DIY activities for the second year running.

SensationALL provides support and multi-sensory experiences for children and adults with disabilities and multiple support needs, their families and associated professionals. In 2016, the charity was successful in its application for a Community Asset Transfer from Aberdeenshire Council for the Old Schoolhouse building in Westhill and is now working towards transforming it into a purpose-built facility.

In 2017, CML funded the purchase and installation of a new summer house and was involved in painting, gardening and general maintenance. This year’s support included removing and replacing cupboards, painting the main activity room and upgrading the outdoor garden space. CML also donated £5,000 to cover the cost of new flooring and storage units.

Suz Strachan, operational lead and co-founder of SensationALL, said: “The support that we have received from CML is overwhelming. Their team are a dynamic bunch who power through maintenance tasks that our small team simply don’t have the time or resources to do. Their enthusiasm for what we do at SensationALL is fantastic and we love having them onsite.”

SensationALL is staffed by experienced specialist practitioners who deliver therapeutic sensory based activities that promote early intervention for individuals with support needs such as autism as well as those with learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental conditions.

Suz Strachan added: “This year we are particularly excited that in addition to all the internal work, CML have helped us upcycle some items donated by the AWPR. The new seating area will be used for outdoor learning as it enables us to take groups outside and utilise the sights, sounds and smells of our garden as a sensory experience.”

Andy Hessell, managing director of CML, said: “As a small, independent charity, SensationALL relies on companies like CML to help it achieve its goal of creating a safe, stimulating and practical environment for the people they support. We have seen first-hand the positive difference SensationALL has on individuals, their families and the local community, and are delighted to continue to support Suz and her inspirational team.”