

Six month secondment provided Stick ‘n’ Step with ‘golden’ opportunity!
23 January 2025
Our team has just bid a fond farewell to a valued temporary member of staff, a John Lewis Partnership employee who was seconded to us last year for six months as part of the Partnership’s Golden Jubilee Trust scheme. Established in 2000, the Golden Jubilee Trust funds the donation of time and skills of John Lewis Partners via placements in around 50 charities per year.
Kate Duffy has been working with us since last summer and has now returned to her usual role at John Lewis & Partners Liverpool.
During her secondment to Stick ‘n’ Step, Kate has been involved with a huge range of activities. From taking the plunge in a fundraising skydive, helping out during conductive education sessions, assisting in organising our family fun day for over 400 people and taking part in a careers fair at a local school, to helping arrange our Strictly black tie fundraising event, no two weeks were the same.
Kate was also very involved in our recently launched Early Intervention Programme, which encourages parents of young babies to access support from us if they have concerns about their child’s development. Commenting on her experiences at Stick ‘n’ Step, Kate says,
I have loved my time working at the charity and I will be staying on as a volunteer, working in the classroom on a Tuesday morning and helping with events too.
Volunteers are so important to a charity like Stick n Step, where funding is really tight and numbers of staff are limited. When I return to John Lewis, I am going to really push for my colleagues to use their volunteer days to support charities like Stick n Step.
Our Chief Executive Sarah Smithson, says,
Kate’s enthusiasm and can-do attitude have been absolutely brilliant. We are very grateful for everything she has done for us over the last six months and to John Lewis Partnership for enabling it to happen. We are delighted Kate is going to continue to support us as a volunteer as well. We are always delighted to hear from people who are interested in volunteering opportunities at our centres in Wallasey and Runcorn. Anyone looking for a new challenge in 2025 is very welcome to get in touch with us via our website at www.sticknstep.org.