A Llanbradach dog rescue charity has welcomed a new member of staff thanks to mobile phone giant Vodafone.
The Vodafone Foundation’s World of Difference UK programme has helped 22-year-old Kaylie Williams realise her dream of working for Hope Rescue.
The charity, based in Llanbradach, rescues dogs from being put down and is staffed mainly by volunteers. It secures emergency rescue spaces for dogs with other charities such as Dogs Trust, Blue Cross and RSPCA. It also re-homes rescued dogs through a network of foster homes across the UK.
The Vodafone World of Difference programme, which launched in September last year, gave 500 people the chance of a two-month paid placement with a UK charity of their choice.
Among them was Kaylie, from Llanrumney, who, after completing her two-month stint, successfully applied for a permanent job with the charity.
She said: “I’ve always wanted to work with animals so undertaking this placement through Vodafone’s World of Difference really helped me to achieve a dream.
“I was working in IT when I spotted the opportunity and thinking about a change so it was fantastic timing. For me it was actually a spur to leave the job I was in and use my placement as a time to reflect on what to do next while gaining valuable experience.
“Like most people I wasn’t in a position to be able to afford to retrain so working first hand with animals in this way was a fantastic opportunity.”
“The absolutely amazing outcome for me was that they decided that in order to work better they needed to employ a full-time re-homing rescue co-ordinator and I got the job
“It’s absolutely changed my life and I now go to work because I want to and because I love what I do rather than simply out of necessity.
“I’d probably still be in IT somewhere wishing my life away if I hadn’t been accepted to do this placement so I can’t put in to words how happy it’s made me – I’d definitely recommend others to put themselves forward for a new experience.”
Hope Rescue’s founder, Vanessa Waddon, said: “During her time at Hope Rescue, Kaylie proved to be invaluable. It soon became clear that we needed our first full time paid employee, and Kaylie was the one for that role.
“At Hope Rescue, we have to be very reactive, and calls are often a matter of life or death. With Kaylie on board, we now have the resources to take more life saving action.”
Vodafone World of Difference 2010 launches in this autumn. For more information visit www.vodafone.co.uk/worldofdifference