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 the 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 of 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.