Annie lived at Oasis several years ago, and since leaving our refuge has gone on to juggle a successful career with volunteering as a Peer Mentor.
Over the Christmas period, Oasis were invited to give a speech at the National Citizenship Service Graduation, to thank the graduates for their amazing fundraising efforts. Annie had mentioned before that she lacks confidence, especially when it comes to public speaking, so she was attending the ceremony to watch and learn how to give a talk.
In the car, Annie looked at the script for the speech, and by the time we had arrived at the event, she had decided that she would stand next to the staff member. By the time the staff member took to the stage, Annie had decided that she would indeed speak, and delivered an eloquent, powerful and heartfelt message to well over 100 people about the impact of Oasis’ work.
On the way home, Annie told us that; ‘This was a Christmas gift to myself, and it’s something that I never dreamed that I could do’. Encouraged by her success, Annie has now decided that she would like to be an Oasis Ambassador, and deliver speeches to a wide range of community groups!