Tempo Team Spotlight – Meet Rachel Gegeshidze
Meet Rachel Gegeshidze, our Wales Programme Manager who has been working for Tempo Time Credits for over 9 years. She works with our senior management team to manage the Tempo team across Wales.
Where are you based?
I work from home in Penclawwd which is a village in North Gower, Swansea which is famous for laverbread and cookies (If you don’t know, get to know!).
What gets you out of bed in the morning?
My daughter, usually at 3am when she’s calling asking for a lift home after a night out!
What does a typical day at work look like?
I spend a lot of my time working with my team to support the wide variety of community groups using Tempo Time Credits. I also help to recruit new groups across Wales and then support them to build their capacity with Tempo Time Credits and engage more volunteers – especially those who haven’t volunteered before.
Every day is different and I love that my job means that I get to talk to so many different people and hear about the incredible work that goes on across our communities in Wales.
What’s the biggest challenge of your role?
I have to say the biggest challenge we have faced so far is scaling a Time Credit programme across a whole country during the global pandemic but this was a fantastic opportunity to think outside the box and find different solutions.
I love a challenge and it is fantastic to see that from all of our hard work we now have Tempo Time Credit networks growing across the 22 local authority areas of Wales.
What are you most excited about within the business – both now and in the future?
I feel so privileged to look back and see how much we have grown and evolved. I feel so proud seeing volunteers that started earning Tempo Time Credits when I first developed a network in Carmarthenshire, now at university or in careers that have been shaped by the volunteering they have undertaken.
Looking to the future I can’t wait to continue to watch the organisation grow nationally across the UK. We are achieving this in Wales and the potential for the rest of the UK is amazing.
Within your role, what are you most proud of?
Just how much our Time Credits really do change peoples lives. You can see it through our impact report, but most importantly, we hear it from our volunteers. Even after 9 years I feel humbled and proud to work for an organisation that makes such a difference and be part of a team that is so committed and passionate.
Do you have time to volunteer, if so where and why?
For the past 2 years I have volunteered, just before Christmas, to support the work of the Sharing Table and their Christmas campaign by delivering food hampers to families in Gower and Swansea.
Share something your colleagues won’t know about you?
I’m actually trained as a printmaker and fabric designer. I don’t get much time to let my inner artist out these days but I get creative in the kitchen every day and that’s my go to for de-stressing!
