Dublin City South Volunteer Centre

National Volunteering Week, 13-19 May 2013

edwina — 2013-05-08T14:18:06Z

National Volunteering Week, proudly supported by Garnier, takes place from Monday 13th May until Sunday 19th.

National Volunteering Week is an opportunity to shine a light on the inspiring work of volunteers and highlight the value and impact of volunteering to Irish society. Whether you're an individual, a company or an organisation, everyone can take part in National Volunteering Week and it's easy to get involved. To see what's happening nationally go to www.volunteer.ie

Dublin City South Volunteer Centre:

As usual we are celebrating the week in style with a variety of events to suit everyone. To download the calendar of events please click here.

Volunteers:

To access the full listing of events for volunteers please click here

‘I Take Care of' Social Media Competition

Want to win a fabulous hamper of Garnier products or other goodies?

As part of NVW we are running an ‘I Take Care Of…' competition. All you have to do is download the 'I Take Care Of....' poster, fill in (write, colour, draw!) who or what you take care of in your voluntary work and get someone to take a photo of you holding the poster! The more creative the better! Judging will be based on your answer and/or the creativity and location of your photo so get snapping!

To view the competition guidelines please click here

Proud to Support Volunteering

As part of NVW, we are encouraging volunteer-involving organisations, members of the public and volunteers to help us highlight the impact and value of volunteering.

Twitter

We are encouraging the public to #VolunteerATweet to highlight the work of a volunteer-involving organisation they support or retweet a volunteer-involving organisation to promote their work.

Similarly, we are encouraging organisations to tweet in recognition of their volunteers. We will be using the hashtag #ValueVolunteers for this - e.g. Tell us how you #ValueVolunteers for #NVOLW13.

We are encouraging the public and organisations to share volunteering experiences on Twitter.

Facebook

We are encouraging volunteers, organisations and members of the public to support National Volunteering Week by Volunteering your Facebook cover photo. There are three cover photos, which you can download by clicking on - one for organisations, volunteers and members of the public.

GIVE Project: Project Officer

edwina — 2013-05-03T14:05:30Z

GIVE Project: Project Officer

Reports to:

The Managers in Dublin City North and South Volunteer Centres

Overall purpose of the job:

Coordinate the implementation of GIVE Project in Dublin

About GIVE Project:

The GIVE (Grassroots Integration through Volunteering Experiences) project seeks to establish and strengthen mechanisms for engaging migrants in community volunteering in project participating countries (Ireland, UK, Austria, Netherlands) through a range of activities, including awareness raising, information provision, training and sensitization both amongst potential migrant participants, volunteer hosting organisations, and Migrant Led Organisations/NGOs. The project aims to support the integration of migrants in their new community through an increased participation into local volunteer schemes and opportunities. The innovative approach would be to support the creation of links and stimulate the cross fertilizations between migrants, migrant led organisations and local community organisations.

The project is an initiative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and is funded by the European Union.

Volunteer Ireland is the volunteer agency expert partner of the GIVE project in Ireland.

Core responsibilities:

Serve as the focal point for the coordination of all administrative and operational aspects of the GIVE project, in coordination with the Volunteer Centre Managers (VCMs) and work closely with GIVE Project Manager
Provide individual consultations to 75+ migrants interested in community volunteering over a period of 9 months
Develop matches between migrant interests and community volunteering opportunities in their own area. Volunteering opportunities will focus on community initiatives as a priority, such as youth groups, elderly, public community spaces, community sports initiatives etc.
Create networks and work closely with Volunteer Involving Organisations in order to secure placements
Help deliver 5 half day volunteering management/ diversity management trainings to Volunteer Involving Organisations to help them increase knowledge and awareness around the issue of migrants volunteering
Assist with the distribution and dissemination of the GIVE volunteering toolkit
Promote the awareness of the project, dissemination of information on the promotional campaign, etc
Contribute to the preparation for the final project conference
Feedback regularly on the progression of the project and at the end of the process
Engage with the project's on-going external monitors
Make sure that appropriate data is compiled, summarised and entered on project delivery; Responsible for day to day record keeping
Participate in seminars and other meetings related to GIVE project activities and objectives
Any other duties commensurate with the nature of the post

Place of work

Shared offices between Dublin City North Volunteer Centre Coleraine House,

Coleraine Street, Dublin 7 and Dublin City South Volunteer Centre Thomas

Street, Dublin 8. This post will include outreach work.

Hours of work

Part -time (28 hours pw); there may be some evening and weekend work, a time

in lieu system is in operation.

Salary

€31,000 (pro-rata based on 35 hrs a week)

9 months contract

Probation

This position is subject to a standard probationary period of 2 months and there will be regular appraisals. Any changes to the job description will only be made with the full agreement of the member of staff concerned.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Skills (Essential)

Ability to work with a very diverse of individuals and organisations

Ability to advise, inform, motivate and support individuals and organisations

Excellent communication and networking skills

Excellent organisational and time management skills

Computer literacy and general administrative skills

Reporting and evaluation skills

Desirable

Proficiency in database management, including Salesforce

Knowledge (Essential)

Awareness and knowledge of different migrant groups existing in Dublin, particularly those whose country of origin is outside the EU

Demonstrated operational experience and understanding of Migration and Integration policies and programs in Europe are highly desirable

Understanding of equal opportunities and social inclusion issues

Knowledge of how the voluntary/community sector works, including an understanding of the realities of paid and unpaid work in this sector

Third level qualification in a relevant field and/or 2 years experience in the Community and Voluntary Sector

Experience (Essential)

Minimum of 2 years experience in working with migrant groups

Experience of working with teams and on own initiative

Experience of community development

Currently/previously a volunteer her/himself

Personal qualities (Essential)

Interest in the development of volunteering and understanding of the wide range of forms it can take

Belief in Social Inclusion and willingness to work with migrant groups

Self-starter, yet team player, including willingness to work alongside volunteers

Willingness to travel and work outside normal office hours

Desirable

• A car owner with a clean, full driving licence and a willingness to travel and attend meetings outside normal working hours when required.

How to apply:

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications, (CV and cover letter) via email to: kasia@volunteerdublincitynorth.ie by 17th May 2013 at 5pm at the latest, referring to this advertisement.

All the latest volunteer news and information

edwina — 2013-04-25T20:18:37Z

Catch up on all the latest volunteer opportunities, new and information in our newest ezine. To access the ezine click here. Happy reading!

Volunteering at a Local Theatre Festival

edwina — 2013-04-24T13:00:11Z

Read Cristina and Javier's story about their experiences volunteering for a theatre festival in Dublin and their reasons for getting involved.

To be honest, in our lives in Madrid, we had never considered to be volunteers. We always admired people who gave their time for a good cause helping others without anything in return. When we moved to live in Dublin, we decided to become volunteers and give part of our time.

The first time we knew about Volunteer Ireland was through a colleague who knew the organisation. It was a great opportunity for us because it met all we wanted, i.e., meet people, help people and improve our English. From the first moment we applied we always felt very welcome. Even being emails the main communication way for us we always noticed great enthusiasm and attention from our delegation Dublin City South.

At the beginning as volunteer there was an opportunity to volunteer at Dublin Theatre Festival. We always liked the theatre and what better way to start as volunteer that in 18-days theatre festival with numerous performances spread over different theaters in Dublin.

The Festival organisers explained clearly to us how important it was for the festival volunteer's figure, making us see that we are going to represent the festival and for this reason we were a very important part. And now that the festival is over we think they were right.

We attended two meetings for volunteers. In the last one we got our festival T-shirt to identify us as volunteers and all the necessary information for us. From there we just had to wait our shifts, with our timetables and theatres in which we had to work and that's how it all started.

In our first shift we were quite nervous wondering if we were going to be able to do all things due to our language difference, but that nervousness disappeared as soon as we entered in the venue. There we met other volunteer colleges and those responsible for that venue that attended us very well and explained to everyone the tasks we had to do that night. Once each of us was in our places when people started to arrive. We were checking tickets, attending people, selling programs, and we could see the performance because one of the advantages about being a volunteer is you can see the show. We met very friendly people who asked you something, or asked you about a program or just as if they could enter in their seats.

Upon completion of the work and when most people had left, the manager of the theatre congratulated all of us for the great work done, which satisfies yourself. We left saying goodbye to our new fellow volunteers and we went home looking forward to our next shift in another theatre, with new colleagues and other tasks.

It was a great experience for us. We would recommend it to everyone and of course we will volunteer next year. Volunteering fulfilled our purposes - were gave our time, met people and practiced our English. In fact we are eager to volunteer in many more roles!

For all these reasons, and many more, we recommend everyone to volunteer and give their time.

To read this story in Spanish please click here

Make the Most of your Village!

edwina — 2013-04-24T10:45:53Z

InRathmines are hosting an Information Day for local Clubs, Societies, Groups & Volunteers on Saturday 27th April 2013, 12 to 5pm in The Swan Centre, Rathmines, Dublin 6.

The day will offer you the chance to check out and become involved with over 20 organisations active in Rathmines locality. To download a list of the groups that will be present please click here (In addition to the groups list in the brochure Rathmines Speaker's Group and the Karate Club will also be present).

There will be live entertainment on the day and the new InRathmines website will be officially launched.

InRathmines is an initiative by journalism students at Rathmines College to promote interaction and cooperation between local businesses, community groups, residents, students and visitors to the Rathmines area.

Getting to know the locals...

edwina — 2013-03-25T15:15:04Z

Christine Shan, from China, volunteers every month with Serve the City. She tells us why she decided to start volunteering and what she gets out of it.

DCSVC: Can you tell us a little about yourself and what drew you towards volunteering?

Christine: Having been in Ireland for around 8 months, I started wondering whether there was anyone like me who felt something was missing in life. Honestly, my life here is very pleasant. I have a good job which allows me to reach my full potential without working under very much pressure. I like my colleagues in the office very much. They are seven lovely Irish ladies of different ages, who can always bring up entertaining conversations of all topics over lunch. Apart from this, I enjoy my weekends very much by having a lot of activities, such as reading, hiking, meeting up with friends (most of them are Chinese), visiting museums and so on.

DCSVC: It sounds like you were already quite busy...

Christine: In spite of this, I still felt something was missing. It seems that I was physically in this country but outside the circle of local communities. Every day, once my office hours were finished, my connection with local people was ended. I didn't like this. I was not satisfied with being a foreigner. I really wanted to be a member of “local people” although I would probably not settle down here. It is this kind of desire that introduced me to volunteer work. After some consideration, I realised volunteering can be a good opportunity to integrate myself into the local community. So, this is how everything began.

DCSVC: What was your first introduction to volunteering like?

Christine: The first time I volunteered was to help with bag packing in a supermarket. It is a really easy job, purely labour work with no technical requirements. We helped shoppers with packing their goods. In return, they donate some coins to a charity, the sponsor of this activity.

DCSVC: Many people are not keen to volunteer for bag packs. What has your experience been?

Christine: After doing it for a while, surprisingly, I found that shoppers could be categorised into different groups by their packing behaviour. There were young mummies, who totally relied on me to put stuff into the trolley as they have to free their hands to hold babies. On the other hand, there were“professional household shoppers”, typically women, who kindly required you to put different things in separate bags. For instance, meat and vegetable could not be in the same bag, neither were hot cooked food and uncooked food. Heavy stuff should be distributed evenly to different bags.

If I forgot one of those rules, they would point it out. Wow, I never expected I could take lessons here! In addition, there are talkative men like the uncle next door. They had endless questions to ask while helping you with bag packing. There are also a few young couples, who thanked you with a really charming big smile but left no donation. But, generally, Irish people were really generous. That is what I came across in the first time of volunteering. Overall, five hours of volunteering showed me a vivid snapshot of one aspect of Irish people's daily lives. I then signed up for two other volunteering activities. They were interesting as well and involved more interactions with local people.

DCSVC: So what type of volunteering are you currently involved with?

Christine: I now regularly volunteer with Serve the City on their once-monthly Saturday SERVE Days. Activities organised by Serve the City are very easy for me to continue doing. For one thing, my daily job is working at a computer so it's good to have something completely different to do at the weekend such as outdoors physical labour, gardening, wall-painting etc. Second, it's run on a monthly basis, rather than weekly or fortnight, so the frequency is fine with me.

DCSVC: Anything else you would like to add?

Christine: I intend to keep going and encourage other Asian people to join in!

Notes:

More details regarding Christine's volunteering can be found in her blog (written in Chinese) here or here.

Serve the City: aims to inspire and create opportunity for ordinary, every day people to do extraordinary things by directly serving the needs of others. They organise a day of volunteering on the third Saturday of every month called Third Saturday S3RVE Day. www.servethecity.ie

ACTIVE Migrant Project Fair, this Thursday 28th February!

edwina — 2013-02-25T10:38:55Z

On Thursday 28 February 2013, Dublin City migrants will be able to attend the ACTIVE Migrant Project Fair.

Migrant Project Fair Thursday 28th February

edwina — 2013-02-25T10:24:12Z

ACTIVE Migrant Project Fair to encourage volunteering amongst Dublin City migrants

On Thursday 28 February 2013, Dublin City migrants will be able to attend the ACTIVE Migrant Project Fair. The event will take place in the Oak Room at the Mansion House at 11am and key note speakers will include Itayi Viriri, Project Manager with International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Dil Wickremasinghe, Newstalk broadcaster.

The Migrant Project ACTIVE – All Can Take part In Volunteering Equally - is an initiative of the Dublin City North Volunteer Centre, a local service of Volunteer Ireland. The ACTIVE Fair is hosted by Dublin City North, Dublin City South and Fingal Volunteer Centres.

The ACTIVE Project was set up with the vision to raise awareness and promote the benefits of volunteering amongst migrant communities and subsequently help migrants integrate in their local communities through volunteering.

Dublin City North Volunteer Centre Outreach Placement Officer, Kasia Zukowska said, “The Migrant Project ACTIVE was launched by the Lord Mayor of Dublin Naoise Ó Muirí in September 2012. We are delighted to host a follow-up event to bring together both migrants and non-profit organisations from across Dublin City and allow an open dialogue about all issues concerning migrants in volunteering. The 2011 census showed that one in five people living in Dublin was born abroad. Our aim is to help these newcomers integrate in Irish society. By getting involved in voluntary activities they can meet new people and gain new skills and experience. Their active participation helps to overcome the fear of the unknown, which very often is a hindrance factor in the integration process. We hope that ACTIVE will help encourage more and more migrants to give volunteering a go!”

The day will feature keynote speeches and a volunteer fair, followed by a performance by Jayro Gonzalez, Latin American guitarist and singer, and refreshments.

Ends

For further information please contact Kasia Zukowska, Dublin City North Volunteer Centre, Tel: 086 0471667 E-mail: kasia@volunteerdublincitynorth.ie.

Make Volunteering a New Year's Resolution

edwina — 2013-01-16T11:37:49Z

2012 WAS A RECORD YEAR FOR VOLUNTEERING IN Dublin City South

Dublin City South VOLUNTEERS CLOCK UP OVER 35,000 VOLUNTARY HOURS IN 2012!

Make volunteering a new year's resolution for 2013 – find a role near you at www.volunteerdublincitysouth.ie

08, January 2013: Dublin City South Volunteer Centre today announced that over 1,850 volunteers signed up with the Volunteer Centre in 2012, an increase of 10% on 2011 levels and a record high for the organisation.

Volunteers registered with Dublin City South Volunteer Centre contributed an incredible 35,737 hours to their community in 2012. Applying the average industrial wage, this voluntary effort has an equivalent value of over €788,000.

The most popular areas of interests for volunteers in 2012 were Arts, Culture & Media, Education & Literacy and Social Work.

Of those who signed up to volunteer in 2012, 67% were female. 50% of newly registered volunteers had never volunteered before.

Volunteers who sign up with Dublin City South Volunteer Centre are predominately young under the age of 35. 76% of volunteers were aged under 35.

Dublin City South Volunteer Centre is a member of Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development agency and a representative body for 22 Volunteer Centres. Volunteers registered with Volunteer Ireland and local Volunteer Centres across Ireland contributed an incredible 465,550 hours to their community in 2012 – voluntary effort with an equivalent value of over €10.2 million.

Edwina Dewart, Manager of Dublin City South Volunteer Centre, commented “We are thrilled to see a continued rise in the number of people volunteering in the Dublin City South area. Whilst 2012 was a challenging year for so many of us, it is heartening to see Dublin residents remain as committed as ever to the local community, contributing an incredible 35,000 hours of voluntary effort last year.

Dewart continued “At Dublin City South Volunteer Centre January is often a busy time, we see a peak in interest amongst those keen to volunteer around the start of the New Year. Volunteering is a wonderful New Year's resolution and now is an ideal time to give volunteering a go. Volunteering can be a great way of trying out something new, getting active and meeting new people. With over 300 volunteering opportunities currently available in Dublin City South there is a volunteering role to suit all interests and availability. Visit www.volunteerdublincitysouth.ie to find a volunteering opportunity near you.”

Ends

Volunteer at Dublin's New Year's Eve Festival!

edwina — 2012-12-12T11:28:33Z

The countdown has started for one of Dublin's biggest ever New Year's Eve festivals and you could be part of it!

Supported by The Gathering, Fáilte Ireland, Dublin City Council and Dublin Town, the festival will provide a host of great events and entertainment for locals and international visitors alike. Up to 100 volunteers are required for the New Year's Eve Festival 2012 to help give visitors the warmest of welcomes and create a New Year's Eve celebration they will never forget!

As Dublin's official NYE celebration, the festival will feature markets, family events, a ‘Big Bang' fireworks display and a special Countdown Concert at College Green featuring Imelda May, BellX1 and a host of other musical acts. A ‘Procession of Light' will also take place through Dublin's streets on December 31st, marking the start of The Gathering Ireland 2013.

Volunteer Ireland, the national volunteer development agency, is recruiting and managing the volunteers at this year's celebration. Volunteers are required to help at the following events:

‘Big Bang' Fireworks Spectacular - 31st of Dec

Workshops - 31st of Dec

Procession of Light - 31st of Dec

Festival Box Office - 31st of Dec

Concert - 31st of Dec

Big Brunch – New Year's Day Celebration - 1st of Jan

General relief volunteers are also required for December 31st and January 1st. Download more information on the volunteer roles here

Help us ring in 2013 by volunteering at Dublin's New Year's Eve Festival. To apply as a volunteer for the festival, please fill out the online volunteer application form. To access the application form click here.

Once your application is approved, Volunteer Ireland will be in contact to assign you to a volunteer team and designate a suitable volunteer role. With your help, we can make this New Year's Eve Festival an unforgettable event!