In Kerry Volunteer Centre we know of many many Volunteers across Kerry that are making their neighbourhoods safer and healthier. It is important that we value the community spirit as epitomised by hundreds of volunteer involved with Community Alert, Civil Defence, Inshore Rescue, Mountain Rescue or First Responder schemes. There are a raft of new and long established volunteer led groups stretching from Barraduff to Ballybunion, Tralee to Kenmare that are deserving of a acknowledgment, recognition and appreciation
Among these groups is the voluntary Ballymacelligott Community Alert. The scheme was set up following a disturbing incident in November 2007. Under the stewardship of local community activists the Community Alert group was brought to life. One of the first big projects undertaken by Ballymac Community Alert was the provision of up to 60 personal alarms with funding from the Department of Social, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs during 2007/8.
While many Community Alert may be tempted to sit back at that stage and think they’ve done their bit, the scheme was inspired by a new Muintir na Tíre initiative to set up text warning systems in communities around the country.
In the age before iPhones and internet at your fingertips it was an old Nokia which sent out the first Community Alert text. Over the last number of years the Ballymac group, have taken advantage of every development in technology- from free web texts and text bundles through to pilot schemes with Vodafone. It was all in an effort to keep costs down and to make it as efficient as possible.
Gradually the Kerry group became a model of how to do it in other communities- growing to 190 over the initial period and to 300 over the following 18 months. According to the scheme secretary Fionnán “The thing kept developing, it kept changing. It was never the same for six months because technology was always changing and you were trying to keep up with it and use it,”.
Gradually the Kerry group became a model of how to do it in other communities. Whilst the scheme has had a number of notably successes in preventing crimes most importantly it has empowered the community and neighbours to feel safer and more connected.
Volunteering and Volunteers enrichs our local communities, they make life and living in Kerry better and we in Kerry Volunteer Centre value their community spirit and selflesness.
