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Volunteers In Action
A collection of short stories.
Employer Supported Volunteering
In August 1998, we arranged for a group of 26 employees from KAE, a London-based marketing company, to undertake one day of volunteering while on a team-building trip in Ireland.
They went to the Glencree Centre for Reconciliation in Co Wicklow and undertook a range of indoor and outdoor practical work.
"Things that worked really well were: painting walls (having to be creative as the paint colours ran out!), making a fire hose box, preparing the porch for a display, rewiring, carpeting, etc as these things were feasible and you could see the results."
- Pascale Aebischer, KAE 
Summer work camp
Weeks of negotiation finally bore fruit in June 2000, when this summer work camp took place.
Volunteering Ireland facilitated a partnership between Voluntary Service International, the Work Options programme of St Michael's House and St Mary's Hospital in Phoenix Park, Dublin.
A mixed group of international volunteers and volunteers with learning disabilities worked hard for two weeks to convert a disused building into a recreation and activity centre for the hospital's long-term patients.
All parties were delighted with the results.
Asylum seekers make a difference
Two months after arriving in Ireland, Clement Amire, who is from Nigeria, contacted Volunteering Ireland. As an asylum seeker, he was unable to take up paid employment and he was fed up of sitting around all day.
He volunteered for two hours a day, five - sometimes six - days per week at the Royal Hospital Donnybrook, where he brightened the lives of many of the patients.
Clement found volunteering an invaluable experience while settling into his new surroundings.
Giving blood
You don't have to be a doctor or nurse to save lives.
The Irish Blood Transfusion Service is always looking for donors to provide blood for the 70,000 patients that are transfused each year in Irish hospitals.
Blood donors come from all walks of life. If you are feeling fit and healthy, are aged between 18 and 65, and weigh at least 8 stone (50 kg), the chances are you can save a life by giving blood.
The Service has centres in Dublin and Cork, as well as mobile clinics. They will even arrange transport for a group of employees to give together.
To find out more call the donor infoline on 1850 731137 or see http://www.ibts.ie
Volunteering at the Chester Beatty Library
I have enjoyed using the many resources offered by Volunteering Ireland while setting up the new volunteer programme for the Chester Beatty Library. I used the Volunteering Ireland library to research and learned from others I met at the numerous training sessions offered.
"We are now delighted to involve new volunteers in our Library, who have heard about our volunteering opportunities as tour guides, shop workers, visitor services representatives and education assistants through Volunteering Ireland."
- Veronica Ryan, Volunteer Coordinator
Chester Beatty Library have sufficient volunteers at present and ask potential volunteers to keep watch for future opportunities on the Volunteering Ireland site.
Looking for an adrenalin rush?
To give and not to count the cost ... So reads the motto of Scouting Ireland.
The organisation involves over 5,500 volunteers throughout the island of Ireland, each freely giving around 10 hours of their time per week. Over any year, this amounts to 2.86 million hours!
For more information visit the Scouting Ireland web site
Restoring Coleraine House
Volunteering Ireland is based in Coleraine House.
The building is the only surviving part of the eighteenth century Linen and Yard Halls complex and is more commonly remembered as the Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council) Vehicle Taxation Office.
Between 1995 and 2000, Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups, in partnership with public and private agencies, restored the near-derelict House to its former glory. Volunteers were involved in many parts of the process, not least in raising a substantial proportion of the £500,000 that was necessary to undertake the restoration.
The building was opened by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern on 12 June 2000. |
