Hi there, I’m Hannah and I’ve been working in the Fundraising and Marketing department since August 2019. Before starting at NICE I worked in the events industry for 7 years and gained my degree in Event Management. I was very excited to start at NICE, to get the chance to carry on working on events but also gain experience within the charity sector for a really great cause. My first eight months at NICE were fantastic, I got to work on a range of exciting events from the small winter fayre to our largest fundraising event, the NICE Ball.
Then COVID hit the UK like a tornado. With a stroke of luck, we managed to host the last Ball on the 14 March 2020, just 9 days before the UK was placed into lockdown and everyone’s lives changed forever. Like many people I stayed positive about the situation and was planning away for in-person events for the summer and autumn of 2020, it feels really silly to write that now with hindsight! But of course, we are living in… get ready for it, here comes that phrase that we are all sick of hearing ‘unprecedented times’.
So slowly but surely, I came to the realisation that nobody knew when in-person events would be possible, and certainly wouldn’t be able to go ahead any time soon. So, I turned my attention to virtual events. Gather some people on Zoom and run an event from your living room for an hour, sounds easy right? In practise it is so much harder. I had gone from coordinating conferences for hundreds of people and planning weddings with meticulous brides, to now feeling daunted by hosting a small event online. I had to remember it was just as strange for event goers to now have to experience them from a screen too. With a great team to work with, we got in the swing of running them, desperately trying to raise awareness of NICE’s work, and raise much-needed funds, given the huge income loss of the usual events calendar.
I can’t wait to start planning an event onsite or at a venue again, but for now we must continue to try and keep our wonderful supporters engaged from their sofas, and help them stay connected to our cause. If you have attended one of our virtual events or participated in any of our digital initiatives this year and last, thank you. You have helped keep the charity going at a time when our families needed NICE the most. Everyone at NICE is so grateful for the support we have received, so please feel proud that you played a part in making a difference during an extremely tough time.
So, what is next? We have in store some unique virtual experiences to share with you, from a magician show to a jury experience with professional actors. If you aren’t already signed up to our mailing list, please click here to join it, as we will be sharing dates for upcoming events very soon. Thank you for reading, I hope to see you soon, on my screen of course!
