It was only a year ago that Emma, the Chair, and I sat across the table from each other with gloomy expressions on our faces to talk about the future – or the end – of Restore Glasgow.
Our Development Manager had had to leave fairly suddenly to pursue her studies, and neither Emma nor I had the time or the skills required to keep Restore going. We considered winding the charity up and passing on all of our remaining funds to a like-minded charity. But… there was enough in the bank account, just about, to pay a part-time Development Manager for a year. After prayer and discussion, we decided to step out in faith by advertising for a new Development Manager, despite not knowing where we would be in a year’s time, and not being at all sure that anyone would apply.
It was only days later that we received a large and generous donation from ICA Architects. We were sure that this was God’s sign that keeping going with the charity was the right thing to do. A member of Restore with lots of recruitment experience helped us to draft the job advert and description, and soon applications started to come in from people of breathtaking calibre! It was really difficult to whittle it down to just one person, but in the end we both felt that Angela Maxfield was the right person – and so she has proved!
With Angela at the helm, Restore has gone from strength to strength over the last year – so much so, that we have more money in the bank now than when we first decided that we could just about afford a Development Manager! God has great timing, and a sense of humour.
There are still challenges for us, not least when it comes to membership and engagement – a problem that has confronted all kinds of organisations since Covid. But we feel sure that God gave us this money, and Angela, so that we could continue to do his work in Glasgow. So that is what we will do.
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