Susie Roberts has retired from Cheshire Community Foundation after 5 years of dedicated service. She writes this farewell to members of our Cheshire 100 Supporters’ Club.
I can hardly believe it has been five years since I joined Cheshire Community Foundation, or that now I’m actually retiring!
Whilst I’m hugely excited about the freedom that retirement will give me to explore new skills and plan adventures, I’ll be really sad to leave such an extraordinary organisation, my colleagues and all our lovely donors. Working for CCF really has been a privilege and the perfect end to 40 years of working life.
That said, it’s retirement with a small r, as I think there will be lots of splendid volunteering opportunities for me to get my teeth into. I decided I needed to spend less time in front of a screen and more time in the fresh air, so fingers crossed the weather improves slightly!
Developing the Cheshire 100 has been one of the joys of my career. Rarely have I had the pleasure of working with such a genuinely community minded bunch of people and organisations, with a real core of kindness, and I wish you all only good things for the future. You can be very proud of the difference that your involvement has made to your local community.
Here are some of my Cheshire 100 Highlights.
March 2020
The launch of the Cheshire 100 at a somewhat challenging President’s Awards in March 2020 – the electricity cut out and the first Covid lockdown was announced the following week. Despite these challenges, we welcomed our first four members into the Cheshire 100 family.
December 2021
Our first face-to-face gathering for Cheshire 100 members in December 2021. Generously hosted by Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service in the outdoor street scene at their headquarters at Safety Central in Lymm. Never before have I presented next to a crashed car, dangerous grain silo and exploding electricity substation!
So lovely to be able to welcome our members face to face, though, after a year of strangeness and isolation and to report on the extraordinary efforts our charities had made to support our communities through the Covid crisis.
2022
We reached our 50th member! (and I foolishly let slip at our Presidents Awards that year about the dance of joy I do every time a new member joins the Cheshire 100 family)
2023 saw us welcome a record number of new members to the fold and an amazing Christmas party was hosted by our fellow member Encirc at their hub in the centre of Chester – who knew our membership had such great voices!
Bolesworth June 2024
In the stunning setting of Bolesworth Castle International Equestrian Festival. A room full of our wonderful membership, an inspirational and moving reminder never to give up from Andy Reid of the Standing Tall Foundation, and a famous gatecrasher.
As my final event, I couldn’t have asked for more.
Thanks everyone for your support over the past five years – you are all amazing!
The team at Cheshire Community Foundation gave me a wonderful retirement gift: lifetime Cheshire 100 membership! So I look forward to seeing you at future events, and it’ll be lovely to stay connected to the community foundation and our supporters.
Tracey Andrews and Iona Moxon will be looking after the Cheshire 100 moving forward, so I’m delighted to leave you in very safe hands, and do, please, use this link to recommend friends and family, colleagues and associates to swell the ranks of the Cheshire 100. We’re aiming to reach 100 members by Christmas! We need you now more than ever.