A message from Lara Bundock, CEO

When you set up a charity, your days and nights are filled with dreams and fears of what could be: You worry about where the money will come from but you dream of the lives it could impact; you worry about being alone but dream of the team you’ll find; you worry you won’t have the words but you dream of speaking and inspiring rooms of people to take action. 

12 years in, I realise I was never meant to know what it would look like. It is harder than I had ever thought and yet more real and more extraordinary than I could ever have imagined. Each staff member, every beneficiary, all volunteers, fundraisers, donors and stakeholders bring with them a new element, a new piece to form the journey. They may not realise, but every person, every interaction, shapes the whole, shapes the future.

Which leads me to the next step. The time has come for me to let Snowdrop find its future without me at the helm. I am so proud of everything that makes Snowdrop, Snowdrop, but particularly the change it brings to the lives of survivors; to communicate hope, to demonstrate that some people don’t give up, to give a sense of home and safety and that a future beyond the past is possible.

One survivor once described our service by saying “long-term support is crucial to every survivor’s recovery; without it, you may as well not have been rescued at all”.  Hearing that, I knew that every hard moment creating and running the charity, was worth it.

Moments that have stayed with me:

• The launch evening drawing in over 100 people and turning to Rachel and saying “I guess we’re doing something!”
• The 800 cups of coffee I bought from Tamper – my first ‘office’
• Sitting in the broom cupboard in a church – my other first ‘office’
• Writing a business plan in Rachel’s living room using ‘Business Guide for Dummies’ (while we took it in turns to bounce her newly born son on our hips)
• Kindly being given a room to live in when I almost had to choose between my own income and continuing the charity
• A legal firm supporting our charity application for free when we were ready to give up
• Our first donor – an 11-year-old girl who gave her pocket money and kept my spirit going
• The charity skydives that some of our clients took part in (and taking part myself with my heart in my mouth!)
• Signing for our first official office and furnishing it through 8 bacon sandwiches (feel free to ask!)
• The charity having caseworkers, counsellors, administrators, dance teachers, renovators…all through volunteering
• The photography project, which gave voices and space for survivours to be heard
• Every house renovation and paint splatter (and building furniture by torch light!)
• Being told that the Big Lottery was taking a chance on us and funding almost 100% of our growth and expenditure
• Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee alongside Salvation Army, Barnardo’s and Medaille
• Seeing the government extend long-term support for survivors
• Buying our own building (with the support of SO MANY PEOPLE)
• Publishing the UK Training Framework for Identifying and Supporting Survivors of Trafficking
• Seeing the building transform from sitting on a beanbag in a cold reception whilst waiting for the electricians to arrive to the incredibly decorated and furnished home it is now
• Sitting on zoom for the first time (with my cat in the way!) discussing with the leadership team how to change everything to adapt to the pandemic
• Steadying us through and out of the pandemic!
• Climbing Kilimanjaro with some of the world’s best people
• Every tear and hysterical moment of laughter that I have shared

I keep adding to this because it’s 12 years of memories! But I know when to stop. Just like now. I am ready for my next venture, and so is Snowdrop.

Thank you to each and every one of you who has been part of this. Some of you will never fully know how much you’ve meant. I will continue to fly Snowdrop’s flag, wherever I go and I so hope that all of you will continue to follow and support this exciting next phase where Snowdrop will go on to support even more survivors in to a new future. 

I know that I will leave Snowdrop in fantastic hands and that its future is bright. Everyone involved shares my passion for the organisation and how it changes lives and I know that the dedication, passion and skill of all those involved will see Snowdrop safely through this period of transition from which it will emerge ever stronger. I want to reassure everyone that they can be really confident in the future of Snowdrop. 

I may leave Snowdrop, but Snowdrop will never leave me.

Until the next dream, thank you.

Lara Bundock
-CEO