Dublin City South Volunteer Centre

Profile of Volunteers

Sacha Johnston — 2010-07-05T16:19:05Z

New figures released today by Volunteer Centres Ireland (VCI), show that, in the first half of this year, the recession continues to have a huge impact on the numbers of people registering to volunteer. Furthermore the profile of volunteers registering with volunteer centres has changed significantly since the recession.

The new type of volunteer registering with volunteer centres tend to be highly skilled with considerable time on their hands. Volunteer Centres are under pressure to find ‘meatier roles' for volunteers were they can hone their skills and keep busy and active. Dr Yvonne McKenna, CEO of Volunteer Centres Ireland explained that ‘while volunteering cannot help the unemployment problem in Ireland, it does have a proven positive impact on the wellbeing of the unemployed and can help prevent some of the harmful effects of long-term unemployment. To this end, Volunteer Centres Ireland and its members are seeking cross-departmental support to help them meet the needs of the unemployed or under employed volunteers'.

Volunteer centres have seen a massive 72% increase in volunteering since the onslaught of the recession and this shows no sign of dissipating. The figures released today show that ‘recently made redundant' is now one of the top ten reasons people are volunteering, while ‘free time' and ‘to gain work experience' are the second and third most popular reasons to volunteer, respectively. More than half the volunteers who registered as unemployed or recently made redundant were aged under 35, while 70% had never volunteered before.

For more information about the changing profile of volunteers registering with volunteer centres please contact Eva Early on 087 22 22 216 or at eva@volunteer.ie

Survey says...Volunteer!

Sacha Johnston — 2010-07-05T14:23:26Z

According to a public survey conducted by the leadership development group Junior Chamber, ‘signing up with volunteer.ie' is the second most helpful act within a community, topped only by ‘planting flowers in a public area.'

‘Signing up with volunteer.ie' and ‘running a charity event' both recived 16 per cent of the votes for best thing you can do to help a community. Of course, signing up with Volunteer Centres Ireland is only part of the task, one must also be prepared to better the community with a project!

One fantastic opportunity for getting involved with your local Volunteer Centre is to participate in the upcoming National Day of Volunteering on October 1st, 2010. One could easily combine the survey's first and second place helpful acts into one great community building project by organising a flower planting event and registering it on www.volunteer.ie.

Interestingly, the choice to ‘become active in your local policital party' did not recieve a single vote during the survey. ‘I was surprised to see that not one person would consider joining a political party,' said JCI's Mark Kelly.

RTE Looking for Volunteers

kimboyle — 2010-06-03T14:41:09Z

RTE are looking for volunteers to participate in a new TV programme called 'Do the Right Thing'. Click on the link for more information http://www.rte.ie/tv/dotherightthing/

Garda Vetting Seminar

Sacha Johnston — 2010-05-19T12:35:02Z

It is with great pleasure that the five Volunteer Centres in Dublin invite you to attend a seminar on Garda Vetting on May 28th from 10:00am to 13:00 in "The Venue", Dublin City Council, Wood Quay.

This seminar is for both:

Those organisations who already use the Garda Vetting Service being offered by local Volunteer Centres. It represents a great opportunity for you to get up to date information on changes in the system and get answers to any questions you may have.
Those of you who may not use the Garda Vetting process itself and would like more information on how to integrate vetting into your current recruitment and selection procedure

The seminar will cover the following:

Presentation and Q&A with Supt. Pat Burke, Garda Central Vetting Unit
The Vetting Service provided by your local Volunteer Centre
Vetting as part of the Screening process

The event is free of charge and open to any not-for-profit organisation or community group that involves volunteers and is interested in finding out more about the vetting process. To register for the event please RSVP to Tricia Nolan at tricia@volunteersouthdublin.ie.

For further information please contact your local Volunteer Centre.

Kind regards,

Dublin City North Volunteer Centre
Dublin City South Volunteer Centre
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre
Fingal Volunteer Centre
South Dublin County Volunteer Centre

The Volunteer Times

Sacha Johnston — 2010-04-20T11:23:27Z

Read all about us! Check out the latest edition of the Volunteer Times, Dublin City South Volunteer Centre's newsletter. Read all about the resources available to organisations who involve volunteers and how the Volunteer Centre can help you. You'll also find information on upcoming events and corporate groups who want to volunteer. Click here to view our newsletter on line.

Information Session

Sacha Johnston — 2010-03-29T09:39:12Z

You are invited to attend a Volunteer Information Meeting...

Who: Coolmine Therapeutic Community

Where: DIT Aungier Street, Dublin 2

When: Wednesday 31st March 2010 @ 6.15 pm

What: Coolmine Dublin Bay Cycle

Volunteers interested in helping to organise the Coolmine Dublin Bay Cycle on Sunday 23rd May 2010 are invited to an information evening next Monday 22nd March. This year members of the Dublin Senior Football Team are participating in the event which starts in Bray at 11am and travels along the bay into the city to meet the Lord Mayor and then onwards to Howth to finish at approx 3:30pm.

Help is required in a variety of roles from marshals to street collections, transportation, enrollment of cyclists; media/PR etc.

All are welcome. The meeting will take maximum 1 hour. Please RSVP to Declan @ 086 250 2298/declanarthur@gmail.com to register your interest.

Meet an EVS Volunteer

Sacha Johnston — 2010-03-23T09:44:46Z

Sarah Levecq is a Belgian volunteer in Volunteer Centres Ireland, the national organisation with responsibility for developing volunteering nationally and locally. She is also volunteering in Dublin City South Volunteer Centre as a photographer. Read all about her experience and check out her great photos of Ireland here.

Good News Friday

Sacha Johnston — 2010-02-05T15:43:18Z

Young People in Ireland want to Give Something Back!

New figures released in the first month of the year give insight into the make up of Irish volunteers and it seems that 70% of those registering to volunteer via their local Volunteer Centre are under 35 while 31% of volunteers are under 25. The figures released by Volunteer Centres Ireland (VCI) show that in Ireland more and more young people are contacting their local volunteer centre to get involved with their local communities.

The number one reason young people give for volunteering is that they want to ‘Give Something back', followed by ‘gain or improve slills'. ‘Make a Difference', ‘Free Time' and ‘Want to Do Something for my Community' also make the top 5 reasons young people are volunteering. While young people have mostly altruistic motivations to volunteer many of them are using volunteering to keep active and upskill during the downturn in the economy.

Indeed Volunteer Centres Ireland has seen a huge increase in the numbers of young people coming forward to volunteer during the last eighteen months with a more than 100% increase in the numbers of people volunteering overall.

The Chief Executive of VCI, Yvonne McKenna, says that the recession has been good for active citizenship and volunteering.

‘In part the explosion in active citizenship is down to the turn in Ireland's economic circumstances as thousands of young people who have either lost their jobs or, indeed, cannot find work after graduating from second or third level education are being proactive and are seeking out fulfilling opportunities and the chance to learn skills that could lead to full-time employment.

‘However, other people are seizing the opportunity to show solidarity with their neighbours and communities by pitching in where necessary. This has been apparent by the numbers of people reaching out to the flood victims here in Ireland but also by the numbers of young people who have come forward with fundraising ideas for the people of Haïti'.

Volunteering on the rise

Sacha Johnston — 2010-01-11T15:31:28Z

What a Year!

Dublin City South Volunteer Centre is delighted to announce that we had over 1600 individuals register with us in 2009. That is a 25% increase on 2008 - and more than triple the number of volunteers registered in 2007.

Volunteers in Dublin City South gave a collective 43, 868 hours in over 450 different placements across the city.

2009 was a difficult year for many, with huge increases in unemployment and severe cuts to funding in the community and voluntary sector. Volunteers made a significant difference in the lives of vulnerable people across the city, helping organisations make that difference that is so badly needed. It is heartening to know that in tough economic times the citizens of Dublin are volunteering more time than ever recorded before.

Currently we have 348 different ways to volunteer, with new opportunities being developed all the time. If you are based on the southside of Dublin City and want to volunteer or you are looking for volunteers to join your organisation call Dublin City South Volunteer Centre today to find out more: 01 473 7482.

1. 2011 Year of Volunteering

Sacha Johnston — 2009-12-11T15:28:00Z

Marian Harkin Expresses her delight that the European Parliament have supported 2011 as part of the European Year of Volunteering.

As leader of the campaign to have the year 2011 designated by the EU as ‘The European Year of Volunteering', Marian Harkin MEP has warmly welcomed the overwhelming vote in favour of the designation by the European Parliament in its Plenary Session in Strasbourg today, Thursday, November 26th.

“This is the culmination of the Campaign I organised with cross group colleagues from different countries to secure deserved recognition for the role the 100 million volunteers play throughout the European Union and not least in Ireland.

“I am also very happy that the increase of €1 million I proposed has resulted in a €3 million preparatory budget for 2010 while the overall commitment for 2011 is now €10 million.

Two and a half years ago I proposed this idea as part of my Report on Volunteering to the Parliament and then successfully led a Written Declaration from the Parliament to the Commission on this matter. I am so grateful for the support of voluntary groups throughout the EU and also from the Committee of the Regions. This was an example of a collaborative success between the voluntary sector, the Parliament and the Commission and as an avid supporter of the Community and Voluntary Sector I am proud to have played the leading role in the European Parliament. “In Ireland volunteering and volunteers play a huge role in providing a range of services and I look forward to seeing the contribution of these 1.5 million plus activists duly recognised in the Irish celebrations throughout 2011.