Devon volunteer Alison living the dream

A Devon volunteer's amazing dedication to the community café she helped set up at her church has won her a prestigious award.

Alison Stephens – a member of the City’s Methodist Central Hall congregation – has just been named one of Methodist Insurance’s eleven regional winners in its national Church Volunteer Awards.

She beat hundreds of other nominees, winning a £1,000 prize for the church, and she now goes forward to a national final where she stands to win even more.

Alison is living her dream – literally.

Ten years ago, the retired primary school teacher was awoken by a future vision of herself – complete with wrinkles and grey hair – serving coffee in a church hall.

She chuckles now as she remembers the dream, which she believes was divinely inspired.

"I wasn’t sure at the time what it was about," she said. "But now it all makes sense."

It took many years, and a lot of hard work by many church members, but when they opened their café eighteen months ago – with Alison as unpaid manager, and at the controls of the barista coffee machine – it was ‘as though it was meant to be’.

"We started out with a hundred customers a week, with one staff member and a volunteer a day," said Alison, "and now we’re serving a thousand customers a week, seven staff and ten volunteers, and we’re still growing."

The café is bringing in funding for the church, but, more importantly, it’s building relationships with local people.

"People begin in the café," said Alison, "but many have started bringing their families to our monthly messy church, which has doubled in size, and now some are drifting to other things that we do. It’s definitely starting to bear fruit."

The church’s youth administrator, Veronica Graham, said, "Alison has gone beyond any call of duty. She’s a true volunteer. She works with passion and tireless enthusiasm, seeking excellence in all that she does."

Alison herself says she is ‘embarrassed’ by the award.

"It’s very nice," she said, "but I’m one of many who give up their time and work hard to make things happen. It’s a privilege to serve God like this."

Michael Angell, CEO of Methodist Insurance, said, "At a time when society can seem increasingly inward-looking, and when so many people feel lonely and isolated, the voluntary efforts of Methodists in their churches and wider communities is humbling and inspiring, and we are delighted to be able to celebrate their wonderful efforts.

"The coronavirus outbreak means that these are very challenging times for us all, and many have had to put their activities temporarily on hold. But one thing is for sure: as soon as the restrictions are relaxed these volunteers will be back out again, helping the most vulnerable and needy in society."

The Methodist Insurance Church Volunteer Awards competition was launched in June last year, and saw Methodist churches throughout the country invited to nominate volunteers for their exemplary work in their churches and local communities.

More than 200 people were nominated, and a panel of judges, featuring regional representatives, selected eleven winners from across the UK.

Members of the public are able to vote for their favourite at the Methodist Insurance website with the results from this vote being combined with the scores from the Methodist Insurance national judging panel to determine the National Winner.

Voting is open until 15 July 2020 with National Winner being revealed in October where they will receive an additional £2,000 donation for their church.