Kerry Volunteer Centre is delighted to announce that Kerry local Cormac Sertutxa has been nominated for a Volunteer Ireland Award. Over 1 million people in Ireland volunteer and these awards aim to say thank you for the hard work and dedication of volunteers across the country.
Job Title: Volunteering Development Officer
Name and address of employer: Kerry Volunteer Centre CLG, 7 Maine Street, Tralee, Co. Kerry
Kerry Volunteer Centre was founded in 2003, it exists to promote the value of volunteering and increase the range and quality of volunteering in Kerry. Our organisational culture operates from a baseline of innovation, positivity, respect, diligence, accountability, responsiveness and competence. As a team we are small, hardworking, supportive, solution focused, committed to continuous quality improvement, ambitious and respected amongst our stakeholders.
We are looking for a performance driven enthusiastic self-starter who is a wholesome team player to join us in the role of Volunteering Development Officer. If you would like to be a part of our team and can unequivocally demonstrate that you have what it takes to develop Volunteering in Kerry then please do send us your CV for the Volunteering Development Officer position by Friday 18th May to geraldine@volunteerkerry.ie
Job Description – Kerry Volunteer Centre – Volunteering Development Officer
Job Status This is a four day a week, (Tuesday to Friday) position a for a fixed 3 year period, June 2018 to June 2021 subject to
funding from the Department of Community & Rural Affairs, with a 9 month probationary period.
Following almost two years of preparations all remaining provisions of the Children First Act 2015 will be commenced from yesterday the 11th December 2017.
These include the provisi
ons in relation to mandatory reporting of child abuse and in relation to placing a legal obligation on organisations providing services to children to prepare and publish a Child Safeguarding Statement.
Together with the HSE Kerry Volunteer Centee will be providing FREE Child protection briefing on the Children First Act 2015 on the 24th of January 2018.
The purpose of the briefing is designed to provide information about key elements of the Children First Act 2015 and prepare community and voluntary groups, their Trustees and Volunteers to meet their statutory requirments under the Act.
According to Breda Sheehan, Manager of the National Council for the Blind Ireland (NCBI) Charity Stop in Tralee, when it comes to managing volunteers, it’s all about appreciation and making the experience a positive one for 
all involved. We in Kerry Volunteer Centre agree fully!
Breda manages a team of up to 12 volunteers, and is keen to let them know that their hard work is appreciated. “I think the most important thing is to treat people the same way you would like to be treated yourself. You have to constantly keep in your head that they are giving of their free time, they are there to help out of goodwill. You have to appreciate them,” Breda advised.
From over 500 nominations, 30 exceptional volunteers and 3 outstanding groups of volunteers have been shortlisted for this year’s Volunteer Ireland Awards including George and Mary Sugrue from Kerry. 2017 marks an extremely special year for t
he Volunteer Ireland Awards. Not only are they celebrating their tenth year, they will also form part of the prestigious closing ceremony of Sligo’s designation as European Volunteering Capital.
The awards aim to celebrate the extraordinary dedication that nominees have shown to help others, often taking time away from family and friends to give back. From those new to Ireland, husband and wife duos and local community stalwarts, we are lucky enough to have so many exceptional volunteers in Ireland. George and Mary, from Tralee, are one such example:
The Central Statistics Office are currently carrying out a public consultation on the types of questions that will be asked in Census 2021. There was a question on volunteering in 2006, but it was not included in the 2016 Census, much to our disappointment. As such, Kerry Volunteer Centre is asking for your support in getting Volunteering back into the Census-the deadline for submissions is November 3rd, so there is not much time left. 
We would love it if you were able to make a submission to the CSO supporting putting Volunteering related questions back into the Census. To make it as easy as possible, you can just cut and paste the text from our submission below and submit it at https://surveys.cso.ie/jfe/form/SV_3CtoRPfCjau7YPz - it shouldn’t take more than a minute. Kerry Volunteer Centres' submission is written to adhere to the framework of the consultation and makes what Kerry Volunteer Centre believe is a strong statistical argument.
Over the last number o
f months the Kerry Volunteer Centre has been delighted to work with the Kerry Parents & Friends Association (KPFA) and the partnership has already borne fruit. June O’Mahony of the KPFA first contacted the Volunteer Centre this summer to discuss their need for a volunteer ‘Befriender”, a role that was successfully filled just a few weeks later.
“I was looking for a volunteer befriender in Tralee and someone mentioned the Volunteer Centre. I spoke to Linda in the office, I gave her the details and we took it from there,” June recalled. “A befriender is normally a person with a couple of hours to spare. It gives our people an opportunity to get out into the community and experience things with a new friend. It’s a different experience for them. It might just be to go for a walk or have a cup of coffee,” she added.
We are delighted to be involved in Charities Trustee Week and to empower the valuable contribution of local #Kerry… https://t.co/P3REaisce5