Emma’s story
“The work we do here at the BGF makes me feel valued.” Emma has been adapting to the challenges of COVID-19 with kindness and experience from her many years of working in the not-for-profit sector. Emma strives to make sure that everyone she interacts with: her clients and colleagues, have a better day after seeing her. Originally from a town just north of Dublin, Ireland, in 2005 Emma and her husband fell in love with Sydney after travelling around Nepal and Singapore. Today Emma’s passion lies in her community work and her contribution to the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation.
We spoke to Emma about how her work routine has changed because of COVID-19 restrictions, new challenges she has had to address and the importance of close relationships with BGF’s community.
“The average day starts a little bit earlier than it used to, so that I can leave my sleepy suburb and navigate the public transport system in times of COVID with restricted seating and availability and be in the office at 7:30 to start my day. My day starts a lot earlier than it did previously, but I get an amazing amount of work done before 9:00am which is good.”
The biggest challenge Emma has faced is adapting to and lining up with other people’s different work schedules. Her clients at the moment are the BGF regular donors, and Emma has done a brilliant job at managing COVID-19 safety with their ability to continue their regular donations.
“We are able to put regular donations on hold and reinstate them when the donor is ready to start up again and some of our donors took advantage of this for a short time, but many have reinstated their regular giving once more which is great for us. Our regular donors are such an amazing group of people”
During this uncertain time Emma has remained open and honest with her donors about the challenges they're facing. She employs her experience to assist them in navigating any financial hardships catalysed by COVID-19.
“The biggest concerns for our regular donors have been uncertainty around income, with so many people out of work due to COVID-19.
We held a successful tax appeal in June, which raised some much-needed funds for us, so that was a great success.”
Emma continues to make the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation a brighter and better place along with her colleagues.
"It’s nice to be back with a community of people who are generally working for the good of others and share their good heartedness with others I love being in an environment where I can be myself and feel relaxed around my colleagues”
She is proud of the work she does with the Bobby Goldsmith Foundation and that is reflected in the amazing work she is doing for our community. Thank you Emma!
“I think that the work that BGF has been able to continue to do during this pandemic has been incredible"