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Aspire Oxford

753. Carol Sweetenham

Dr. Carol Sweetenham, a volunteer from Oxford, has led a charity that has helped over a thousand trainees into work since 2001.

Dr. Sweetenham is a founding member and Chair of Aspire Oxford, a local charity that helps vulnerable people get into work and stay employed. ‘Aspire’ also runs the local community transport service, which assists over a hundred less-mobile residents each year by promoting independence and reducing loneliness and isolation. Aspire has changed thousands of lives and made a lasting positive impact on the whole of Oxford.

In a personal letter to Carol, Prime Minister Theresa May said:

“Your work with Aspire Oxford is helping vulnerable people from across Oxford to get into work and stay employed, by providing thousands of trainees with employability skills. You are helping disadvantaged members of the community to build a successful life in work, and you should feel very proud of what you have achieved.”

Carol said:

“In Aspire we work as a team to support the most vulnerable people in Oxfordshire back into work. Our aim is to do things differently and do them better. All of us are very proud of what we do, and we are delighted to have our work recognised in this way.”

The daily Points of Light award recognises outstanding individual volunteers - people who are making a change in their community.

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