A toast to volunteer of year Selina
OUR VOLUNTEERS GIVE VISITING ARTISTS AND PATRONS THE FAMOUS WARM AND FRIENDLY WELCOME WHICH MAKES WEXFORD A SPECIAL HOME FROM HOME EACH YEAR
A BEHIND-the-scenes Festival volunteer found herself in the spotlight at the National Opera House last week.
Selina Scott was named the 2018 Ecclesiastical/Wexford Festival Opera Volunteer of the Year, becoming the latest addition to the growing list of Festival volunteers honoured since the awards began in 2011.
Selina, a native of Limerick, moved to Wexford over 50 years ago and has been actively involved in her adopted community ever since.
As deputy principal, she was involved in the management of John’s Road School and in that role, she took an interest in all aspects of community life in Wexford town.
Selina has been volunteering with Wexford Festival Opera for over 30 years.
She spent most of that time working behind the bar, and in recent years moved into ‘Friends’ hospitality.
The award acknowledges Selina as one of the great characters in the Festival’s 300-plus volunteer force. Full of fun, she greets everyone with a warm, welcoming smile.
Selina is married to Joe Scott who is also a valued member of the front-of-house team.
The announcement of this year’s Volunteer of the Year was made last Tuesday night by Wexford Festival Opera’s Artistic Director David Agler and Scott Hayes, Head of Relationship Management at sponsors Ecclesiastical Insurance from the stage of the National Opera House in front of a capacity crowd of Festival volunteers, who were in attendance for the first public dress rehearsal of this year’s Festival: the double bill of L’oracolo by Franco Leoni and Mala vita by Umberto Giordano.
Chairman of Wexford Festival Opera, Ger Lawlor, a longtime volunteer himself said, ‘Wexford is often called the world’s friendliest festival. Our volunteers carry the spirit of the town into the Opera House and vice versa.
‘Our volunteers give our visiting artists and patrons the famous warm and friendly welcome which makes Wexford a special home from home each year.
‘Selina’s enthusiasm and her unique personal engagement with everyone in the place is infectious and unfailing. This award is well deserved.’
Ecclesiastical Insurance donates a significant proportion of its profits to charity, so it is fitting that they are associated with an award that recognises the sometimes unsung heroes of the Festival who give their time and skills freely to help maintain the high standards associated with Wexford Festival Opera.
Speaking on behalf of Ecclesiastical, Scott Hayes, Head of Relationship Management at the company, said, ‘The role of the volunteer within the not-for-profit sector cannot be underestimated. The very survival of many charitable institutions is dependent on their unfailing loyalty.
‘Volunteers at the Wexford Opera Festival are no exception to this rule and their professionalism is a perfect foil to the world class performances that we witness during every festival. Our particular congratulations go to Selina for her contribution which spans over 30 years.’