ELECTION Day is looming, and while most of us freely admit to hiding behind the curtains when the canvassers call, the time has come for Kerry volunteers to engage with the candidates. We in Kerry Volunteer Centre are and so can you!
We are urging Volunteers to bring their voice to the doorstep and to the world wide web and the aim of this pre-election campaign is to keep Volunteering on the agenda of the new Government. At the core of the local #VOTECOMMUNITY2016 campaign is the ‘Volunteer Ireland and Volunteer Centres’ manifesto which is seeking support from candidates on issues including strategy and funding. Volunteers can bring these issues directly to candidates when they call over the coming days.
Be reassured that Voters have never had more power, particularly here in the new hotly contested five seat Kerry constituency, and Kerry Volunteer Centre camaign is positevly gaining support from all candidates in what will be a close run election race.
The general election manifesto, which Volunteer Ireland, Kerry Volunteer Centre and the 21 strong Network of Volunteer Centres in Ireland, is sharing around the constituency asks candidates to commit to five key promises.
First on the agenda is a Government ‘Strategy on Volunteering’: “implementing a proper infrastructure with clear objectives for volunteering which will allow it to thrive”. It demands that the Government recognise the importance of volunteering to Irish society, it sets out the value of volunteering to the economy as over €5 billion each year. In eloberates on the values that volunteering brings, namely, benefits to health,wellbeing, employability, social integration and active citizenship.
Second on the agenda is to restore funding to Volunteer Ireland and the network of Volunteer Centres and Volunteering
Information Services. Having experienced cuts of between 20 per cent and 40 per cent in the sector since 2009, the manifesto is also seeking a 12 per cent restoration of funding to Volunteer Ireland and the network of Volunteer Centres around Ireland. This increased funding would be used to “deliver more marketing to increase the number of people that register for volunteering, training to improve the quality of volunteering and targeting of key audiences such as under 25s, over 55s, the unemployed and recent arrivals to the country”.
The third area where support is being sought in the manifesto centres around those in receipt of social benefits, and ensuring that the Department of Social Welfare informs and encourages people to volunteer. Volunteering offers huge benefits in terms of increase employability, confidence and positive mental health. There is currently a lack of awareness, and in some cases misinformation, regarding volunteering and those receiving social benefits that needs to be addressed.
The fourth guarantee being sought on the doorstep is detailed and regular research into volunteering in Ireland. Volunteer Ireland and Volunteer Centres want questions on volunteering to be included on the Census and Quarterly National Household Survey to monitor the habits of Irish Society. Keeping track of current volunteering will allow the Government, the volunteer bodies, and groups who rely on volunteers to plan ahead. In particular it will allow them to “set appropriate targets, identify and address trends and gaps and better understand the impact of volunteering”.
Finally Volunteer Ireland and the Kerry Volunteer Centre is seeking the immediate commencement of the National Vetting Bureau Act. The act, designed to formalise and strengthen current vetting procedures, was enacted in December 2012 but is yet to commence.
The local #VOTECOMMUNITY2016 campaign is linked in priorities to the national campaign being managed The Wheel, which is calling on the new Government to:
• Respect community and voluntary activity as a central part of Irish life;
• Appoint a Minister for Community and Voluntary Activity;
• Develop a strategy to support the community and voluntary sector;
• Produce a funding plan (and where appropriate, a commissioning plan) to enable the sector to thrive; and
• Ensure regulation supports the sector.
With just a few vital vote winning weeks left for election 2016 hopefuls the rallying call is going out to the more than a million regular volunteers around Ireland – including thousands around Kerry- to rise up on their doorsteps and via social media to #VOTECOMMUNITY2016
For further information or to download a copy of the Volunteer Ireland & Volunteer Centre’s General Election Manifesto 2016 log on to www.volunteerkerry.ie Don’t forget to have your say on the doorstep and in the poling station later this month.
Written by Mary Murphy
