I am the Chief Executive of the Belfast Battalion of The Boys' Brigade. The purpose of my Fellowship was to examine the recruitment, retention and reward of volunteers and I travelled to the eastern seaboard of North America to meet with a number of volunteer organisations.

As a volunteer-led organisation, The Boys' Brigade heavily relies on volunteers to work among young people to deliver a meaningful and purposeful programme of enjoyable indoor and outdoor activities. In addition to my full-time role with The Boys' Brigade, I am a volunteer leader heading up a unit in my home town. The role of volunteers is vital, as they seek to develop our young people's life skills and build confidence.

My Fellowship provided an opportunity to look at how volunteer-led organisations recruit and retain suitable volunteers and, more importantly, how they reward volunteers for their contribution to the organisation and society.

Since completing my Fellowship, I have used my learning to enhance our volunteer programme through effective recruitment and acknowledge the commitment of our volunteer leaders through recognition, which has strengthened the retention of our volunteers.