As we move into the New Year, I thought it would be a good idea to look back on 2024, and have a think about 2025. This time last year I was sitting at home waiting for a start date as the new Chief Executive with GAIN. Looking back, I’m not sure what I was expecting. I mean, I was a bit anxious (who isn’t with a new job), I was excited about a new role in a Charity that was new to me, and to be honest, I was a bit concerned about the choice I’d made. After all, GAIN wasn’t a Charity I had really heard of, and I really wanted to take on a role that had real impact for people. I wanted to make a difference.
Well looking back over the year, I must say that taking this role was the best decision I could have made. While there have certainly been moments when there have been some negatives, the positives have certainly significantly outweighed.
I came into this role to concentrate on strategy and driving the Charity forward, and to be honest the last 12 months have mostly been taken up with operational tasks, fixing a number of issues, and making sure that everything is working as it should. While this wasn’t what I thought I would be doing, the most important thing to me is the people that GAIN is here for, people impacted by Inflammatory Neuropathies. So, as a result, getting things right for people has been the most important thing to me.
In the last year we have vastly changed how we support people, moving away from a system that signposted people to other services, to one which begins with finding out what people need, and then trying to meet that need. To me, getting this right is the most important thing for GAIN to do. If folk reach out to us, then we need to be there to provide the best support, information, or advice that we can, in a way that best suits them. This hasn’t taken away from our Peer Support offer at all, in fact its improved it. Getting the right information from people who approach us, enables us to best match them to one of our amazing volunteers.
Which takes me on to our volunteers themselves. An amazing group of people, without whom GAIN wouldn’t be able to do what we do. My view is that in the past, we haven’t looked after our volunteers very well. It’s taken longer than I wanted, but we are fixing this with a new volunteer policy and procedure (boring but essential), an new role description, and a agreement. We will be supporting our volunteers with regular meetings, support calls, and training. We have also extended our volunteer offer to bring in new opportunities to support the GBS and CIDP Community.
And what a community. The biggest positive for me over the last year has been being welcomed into, and excepted by the incredible community that surrounds GAIN. I have had the real pleasure of meeting many of you (virtually and in real life), and love hearing from you all. I can’t quite believe how supportive the community is, and I’ve been blown away by discussions and support in our Online and Local Get Togethers, by our Peer Support Volunteers, and within the Facebook Group. It’s also been amazing to hear your feedback on what we are doing at GAIN, and I have been delighted about how engaged the community has been in supporting me and the reast of the GAIN team, to make your Charity better.
Of course, its not just me at GAIN. Claire has been amazing, and has managed to keep the Charity flowing, especially when she first joined. She has been a real rock to me, and I couldn’t have managed without her. I am also excited to welcome Chris into the team. He has only been with us for a few months, but the difference he is already making shows that we made absolutely the right call bringing him in. The GAIN team wouldn’t be complete without our Trustees, our President and Founder Glennys, and our Patrons. A massive thank you to them for their ongoing support and guidance. Always there when I need them.
So, I wanted to make a difference, but did I. Well, its not really for me to decide, but I hope so. I think we have changed things for the better, and will continue to make improvements and drive the Charity forwards. Did I make the right decision to come to GAIN. Hell yeah! I’m having a whale of a time, and wouldn’t have it any other way.
2025 is looking to be a big year for GAIN. We plan to reach lots more people impacted by Inflammatory Neuropathies than we ever have before, and we will increase the impact that we have for people. There are lots of plans around the Charity, what we look like and how we operate. We will have a new website at some point in 2025, and will refresh our information so its more accessible for everyone. We will relaunch our Local Get Togethers, and aim to support more local groups and local opportunities across the UK and Ireland. And I will finally get that strategy written and published. It’s also our 40th anniversary, so there will inevitably be lots of celebrations.
I’m looking forward to many years ahead with GAIN and with the GBS and CIDP Community. I will continue to seek your input, feedback and engagement in what we do, and am always happy to be held accountable to you for what we do (or don’t do). Please keep talking to us.
In the meantime, let me take this opportunity to wish you a very Happy New Year, and here is to another great year for GAIN and the GBS and CIDP Community in 2025.
