Marie was great to work with as were the whole of Christian Aid staff and volunteers and they thoroughly deserved their IiV award. Once all the self-assessments had taken place, the development plans developed, evidenced produced, some new policies and procedures reviewed, revised and rewritten, CA were ready for their final assessment in February 2009 – the face-to-face interviews with IiV assessors across the UK for their volunteers, staff and trustees. The interviews took place over a three-week period in Feb 2009 (and went into March) during the worst snow storms to hit the UK for decades. So, after months of planning we devised something called ‘snow watch’ – checking the weather forecast every day to see how many volunteers might be able to make it for interviews in Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. All went pretty well as planned considering the amount of white stuff around. Christian Aid demonstrated excellent practice and importantly, always viewed achieving the IiV standard as a way of improving their already good practice for the present and the future – well done! From the volunteer’s testimonials, Christian Aid is great organisation in which to be a volunteer. The presentation of the IiV plaque took place at Christian Aid’s London HQ in June 2009 and  involved some nibbles and a fair few bottles of Fair Trade sparkling wine (very nice).

In the picture opposite:

Stephen Drew Christian Aid volunteer

Sinead Whelan Head of Marketing and Operations (IiV Lead)

Marie Raffay Christian Aid Volunteering Manager

Dane Gould IiV Lead Assessor (England)

Make It Happen (MIH) designs and delivers interactive, multi-media e-learning experiences for Third Sector, voluntary and community organisations at national, regional and local level. Headed up by Dane Gould and Christine Wilks, MIH’s aim is to help empower communities and enhance community development.

Using the open-source Moodle software package, we design and build bespoke Virtual Learning Environments (VLE), internet-based courses and interactive e-learning content. We also offer consultancy for a range of clients, large and small, and have been instrumental in developing national e-learning strategies for Third Sector organisations. We work in collaboration with a pool of MIH associates (trainers, consultants, designers), Moodle partners and open source web developers.

Our mission is to help you make it happen!