Stephen Hynes
My name is Stephen Hynes and I'm a volunteer with the Leinster region. Having just completed nine area events in the region ranging from Aquatics to Bocce, Basketball and Bowling; having been to events in far away places from Kilkenny to Gormonstown and everywhere in between, it’s been a busy time, but a fun time! One of the things that struck me - and there were many, that no matter what event and no matter what the sport, I always came home with a big smile on my face, not only because of the fantastic athletes, but because of the volunteers that I met, coming out in all weathers, young and not so young, (I include myself in the latter!), the transition year students, the ambulance & medical crews, the coaches and affiliates. A truly amazing bunch of energetic and supportive volunteers! I am proud to call you all friends, even if we never meet again, that one meeting was special. They said share the feeling, well I’m can tell you here and now that the feeling is still alive and most definitely getting stronger! If you are thinking about getting involved in area events, don’t put the though off for one more day – get out there and get involved, you won’t regret a moment!!
Beauty Orijakor. Volunteer. New Communities Partnership
Beauty Orijakor is from South Africa. She has been living in Ireland for a number of years and works as a Carer. She has volunteered with New Communities Partnership for the past two years.
'I wanted to volunteer to work with young people as I know being a young person how lonely it can be when you are living away from your home, from your friends and from your culture. I am a DJ in my spare time and I am in constant contact with teenagers. They'd call the Radio Show and they would discuss details of their lives with me and the wider radio community. I love giving young people a voice. I love giving young people the chance to talk. I wanted to take it a step further so I approached New Communities Partnership about setting up a Youth Organisation for young people from new communities. They are alot of young people from other countries living in Dublin who are lonely and feel like outsiders. They need to connect with other young people and share some part of their young life with others. Being young should be about fun, friendships and not about staying home feeling lonely and an outsider.
Two years on and I now go to Brussels and other European countries representing Ireland and New Communities Youth. My Facebook now has people from all over Europe who are passionate about ensuring young people from ethnic minority backgrounds having a voice . Turks, Moroccans, Africans, Dutch, France, German, we are all the same. Volunteering gave me the opportunity to look outside my circle. What started as a wish to give young people a voice has somehow led me to stand on platforms in front of the European Parliament telling them how to work with young people. Where to next? I guess I will continue to work with New Communities Partnership supporting young immigrant teenagers. I am making a difference!'
Beauty Orijakor, New Communities Partnership Volunteer. Aged 24
Helping a Worthwhile Cause
Lena Reid from Newtownabbey has been volunteering as a ‘Puppy Walker’ with Guide Dogs since March 2010. She was inspired to get involved because she had relatives with sight problems and her husband also had some problems in 2001.
Lena said, “My husband and I are retired and volunteering gives us a new purpose to our lives. I love dogs and so volunteering as a Puppy Walker was the ideal way to help Guide Dogs.
Puppy Walking takes time, energy, patience and an awareness of the job that your puppy will be doing when he is mature. You have to be always aware that any bad habits allowed to develop may stop your puppy from qualifying, so extra time and effort has to be made in the training. Apart from the obedience training the puppy has to be exposed to all the everyday things that he may encounter with his new owner, including going shopping, to the dentist, the doctor, the hairdresser, travelling on buses and trains, traffic, joggers, cyclists, stairs, elevators, other dogs, cats, the list is extensive! Also the puppy should be confident enough to take any new things in their stride. The aim is that when the puppy is a year old it has developed into a well balanced dog ready for the guide training that he will then go through. It will also involve a lot of tears when he leaves to go for his training. You certainly get attached, but you will have to be prepared for the parting and remember the job that he will go on to do.
You will be guided and helped throughout the puppy walking process by the Puppy walker supervisor and will attend puppy workshops every two weeks.
Apart from the puppy walking which is from the puppy is about 8 weeks old to 12-15 months, therefore ongoing, I also help with fundraising, driver escort duties and hope to start giving talks and be a Sighted Guide. I will try to fulfil any requests from Guide Dogs but other tasks have to fit in with my puppy’s need. While I have him he comes first.
Through my volunteering I have met new people but most satisfying is being in a position to help a worthwhile cause. There is also great satisfaction in seeing the relationship between a Guide Dog Owner and their dog and hearing how the dog has helped them in their lives.
To date the highlight of my volunteering has been able to take my six month old puppy to the dentist, doctor and other public places where he has been quiet and well behaved.
I would advise anyone starting out in their volunteering to only take on what you have time for so that it doesn’t become stressful but stays pleasurable and you won’t get too tired or put off by it. A little often for a long time is better than too much for a short time.”
Spanish Volunteers Enjoy Time in Belfast
Maria Diaz de tuesta and Ana Garcia Alverez are volunteers from Spain. They have just finished a six week stint volunteering in Belfast as part of a European exchange programme for volunteers over 50, organised between Belfast City Council and their counterpart in Madrid to mark the European Year of Volunteering.
Explaining how she got involved in the programme Maria said, “I saw an advertisement looking for volunteers who were over 50 and could speak English to take part in an exchange programme between Madrid and Belfast. I had never been to Northern Ireland before so I decided to apply. I volunteer with the Red Cross back in Madrid, as well as volunteering with immigrants, helping them to fill in forms and also with people who had suffered from domestic violence.” Ana volunteers with Rotary International and also through the Town Hall in the city.
During their stay in Belfast Maria and Ana volunteered with a number of different organisations. Maria said, “We have helped the Practical Service volunteers from Volunteer Now with gardening and also at Belfast Community Garden. We volunteered with children at Fleming Fulton school, helped in the kitchen in Sandy Row Community Centre and worked with toddlers in East Belfast Mission.
We were very interested in the number of charity shops in Belfast, and think the allotments are a great idea. We were very impressed with the fact that the organisations try to involve the whole community, all kinds of people, both children and adults and people with all different types of abilities work together. We have really enjoyed our experience and have found it very interesting. The people of Northern Ireland are very friendly and we would be happy to visit again.”
During her stay Ana took English lessons in International House and as a memento of their visit they both planted a willow sculpture in the community and therapy garden in Musgrave Park. The exchange programme is continuing when Maria and Ana return to Madrid, with two people from Belfast going over in May.
Volunteering with Lagan Valley Regional Park
I was born in Belfast. In my working life I was a quantity surveyor, so my work was very office bound, nothing like the stuff I do now. I knew when I retired that I wanted to do something completely different.
I have been retired for 3 years. After retirement I had a glorious six months of travelling and generally doing nothing for a while. One day when I was out for a walk I saw a notice for volunteering with Lagan Valley Regional Park, and I thought why not. I was looking for something to do during the week and these hours suited me.
The work I do is so varied! From the really physical - which I like to call the ‘slash and burn’ type of activities which includes things like clearing away undergrowth and cleaning up rivers, it is outdoors and it is physical, I love it. Then there are also more gentle activities such as gathering seeds and making bird boxes, so there really is something for everyone. I am also a guide in the Lock Keepers cottage, where I meet and greet visitors and give them some information on the history of the cottage and answer any questions that they might have.
I meet great people and it is great craic. I love that it is physical, it tires you out and that is a good feeling. It is great being part of a team, we all support each other…safety in numbers and all that! I also enjoy the solitude that working out in nature can give you.
Anyone who is thinking about volunteering should go for it! The beauty of volunteering is that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do - but you don’t know what you are going to like until you try it – it’s all there for the taking.
Jackson Tinto
Eric Finn
ERIC FINN IS a 17-year-old from Santry in Dublin with a keen interest in auto mechanics. He left school last year and is currently out of work.
He hopes to secure an apprenticeship at some stage, but admits that the short-term prospects are not great.
“I didn’t want to spend my time sitting around the house, so I decided to see if there was any volunteering work I could do to keep my skills up and keep active,” says Eric, who is also an enthusiastic cyclist. “I went down to the community centre to look through their lists of volunteering jobs. At first, I couldn’t see anything that would suit me.”
Eric asked for help and a community adviser at the centre talked over his interests with him. Between them, they found a solution – part-time work at an organisation called Rothar, which takes old bikes and recycles them.”
It turned out to be a very good fit for Eric. He is learning new skills every week and building up stock for his CV when he eventually enters the jobs market. “I spend two or three days a week working in the shop and there are qualified mechanics there to teach me. I’m learning about bike mechanics and I’m making contacts. I also have a bit of a laugh working in the shop. The staff there are all really nice.”
At 17, Eric is by far the youngest member of staff at Rothar but he is trying to encourage some of his friends to get involved too. “I have one friend who is still in school, but when he finishes, he wants to put in a few hours here – I think it would really work for him. It’s going to look good on my CV too.”
Siún O'Rourke
WHEN SIÚN O’Rourke left Dublin to study psychology and Irish at NUI Galway, she worried that she would be isolated in her new home and quickly set about making connections.
“I thought voluntary work would
be a good way of making friends so I made contact with the campus volunteering network and found Ability West. I have a sister with a learning disability so this is an area I feel comfortable with.”
Initially, O’Rourke did the occasional run into town with groups of young people with intellectual disabilities, taking them shopping or for coffee. Over the years, her involvement grew. Next year, she will take up the role of president of the Best Buddies Society in NUIG, a group that matches students with people with intellectual disabilities from the community for friendship and social activities.
“The Best Buddies Society has been very successful at NUIG,” says O’Rourke, who helped set it up last year. “Between here and GMIT we have 50 pairings this year.”
The pairing system is very important to people with disabilities, says O’Rourke. “At college, we take for granted things like going for a coffee in a group, sending and receiving texts from friends, going to the cinema with someone other than a family member. For someone with an intellectual disability, it can be difficult to make the connections necessary for these kinds of activities. They see their brothers and sisters going off with friends or hanging out on campus, and they would love to have their own social scene.”
Part of the reason why Best Buddies has been so successful is because it places relatively slight demands on the volunteers. “All we ask is that they meet up with their buddies once a fortnight, and get in contact by text or phone once a week. We provide a day’s training for volunteers to help them overcome any misgivings they may have and address issues such as safety.”
O’Rourke is now in the first year of a masters programme in Applied Behavioural Analysis and expects to continue working in the area of learning development.
Mariaam Bhatti
MARIAAM BHATTI has had a difficult time since she arrived in Ireland last July to take up a job as a child minder.
She says the terms and conditions of her employment were never delivered on by her employer, who exploited her vulnerable position as a migrant in a foreign country. She was
forced to leave her job and her case is currently being investigated by the Irish immigration authorities.
“I didn’t know anyone in Ireland. I had no job or accommodation. I didn’t have any right to work. The authorities took me to a refugee centre while they investigated my case,” says Mariaam. “I am very grateful to the authorities for giving me food and shelter.”
Mariaam is a qualified teacher in South Africa. But she could not work in Ireland while her case was under investigation because she did not have the right work permit. She faced months living in the refugee centre without being able to take up a new job.
“I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing every day. To keep myself sane I decided to go out and search for some voluntary work. Something that I would enjoy doing and that would give something back to the country which was helping me,” she says.
“I have a diploma in teaching and really enjoy writing myself. So when I was told about the Fighting Words project, it seemed the perfect match,” says Mariaam.
Fighting Words is a creative writing centre, which was set up by novelist Roddy Doyle and Sean Love. Inspired by a similar project in San Francisco, Fighting Words helps students of all ages to develop their writing skills and to explore their love of writing.
“I have a real passion for writing, and this project is so interesting,” says Mariaam, who currently works twice a week as a volunteer at the centre, which is located near Croke Park on Behan Square in city-centre Dublin.
“Every day, kids from different schools call in to the centre to tell stories. As volunteers we work with the children to help them develop stories and encourage them. We divide them into groups and write down their stories as they tell them,” she says.
Mariaam says she loves the voluntary work and is keeping it up even though she has recently secured a student visa that will allow her to study and work part-time.
“I am studying for a childcare course now at Abbey College,” she says. “My work at Fighting Words has helped me make some great friends. It has also given me valuable working experience in Ireland. I’d never taught Irish children before. It also enables me to give something back to the community,” she says.
Elsie Grant
ELSIE GRANT has been volunteering at the Central Remedial Clinic in Dublin since 1978. “I actually got involved when my nephew was there. My mother was alive then too, and I went to her everyday, but after she died, I just thought I’d like to do some volunteering, give something back.”
Now 33 years later and aged 83, Elsie is still volunteering.
“I look after the children when they are having their lunch. We set the tables and get the children their food, then after, we clear the tables, and I usually stay back and help some of those who can’t do things for themselves.
“I’ve seen children go right through the school from when they were small to being adults . . . The kids would know us by name and I’d know their names too.
“I feel I do so little though,” she protests with modesty.
“I only go once a week, on a Tuesday – but I think its better to commit yourself and know you are going to go every week, you know?”
So what does she enjoy about volunteering?
“I get just great satisfaction from it – although I’ve been there so long now, it’s just part of my life really. I love them all down there. Everyone is so friendly,” she says.
But it’s not the only good work the grandmother of 10 and great-grandmother of three gets up to, fitting in an hour each Friday as receptionist at the local St Gabriel’s Nursing Home in Edenmore.
“I think it’s important for older people to volunteer; there’s a need for them and it can kind of keep you going as well,” she says. “I feel older people have a lot to contribute. I feel I have a lot more skill in me yet.”
Des McKernan
NOW 15 YEARS in operation, Aspire, the Asperger Syndrome Association of Ireland, has worked to raise awareness and improve the situation for people with Aspergers.
“I became involved because my son has the condition,” says Des McKernan, who helped set up Aspire while he was still in paid employment.
Since retiring in 2005, however, Des has “been working here ever since. Ive never been as busy.
“We have a helpline where we advise parents and any professionals such as teachers who might be interested in finding out more about the condition.
“We work to support about 300 families, and we’ve just run our parents day,” he says. “But our biggest contribution is probably our drama classes. Run in conjunction with Trinity College, up to 60 children and adults with Aspergers participate.
“I’m really an acting chief executive because we can’t afford one at the moment,” says 71-year-old McKernan.
“I’m involved in all aspects – the helpline, the drama classes and the residential unit we have. In a sense, I join the dots and link all these things together. I make sure the bills are paid and do my best to smooth any problems that can arise.
“It’s really a full-time job,” McKernan says. His colleagues say that, as well as his considerable office duties for the organisation, he visits the residential unit in the evenings, where he “reads, teaches French, plays chess or engages with the residents in some form of social interaction, which brings a quality of life that those individuals would otherwise lack”.
“Older people should consider volunteering, it really does keep you younger,” says McKernan. “It keeps you active, you’re meeting people all the time and it’s much better than just doing the odd bit of gardening or golf.”
“It’s very stimulating. I’ve never been as busy as I am now.” Des McKernan is a founder of Aspire, the Asperger Syndrome Association of Ireland. See aspireireland.ie
Joan Coughlan
FOR JOAN COUGHLAN, it’s the satisfaction she gets from helping others that motivates her to volunteer.
Part of a team that mans the phones on the Senior Helpline, the 92-year-old Meath woman says: “I’m a listening ear, I suppose” of her role with the confidential listening service for older people, provided by older people. “Some who call us are lonely and some want to know their entitlements. We give them information about all of that. They can speak to an older person just like themselves.
Working with the helpline since it began, Joan says the experience has enriched her own life. “So many would say ‘that’s great, thanks for listening’ – that’s great satisfaction for me.”
But Joan’s volunteering work doesn’t stop there – through the Third Age Foundation, which promotes the contribution of older people to Irish life, the nonagenarian is back in the classroom. “Once a week, we go to the school in Summerhill and teach the children about the Trauma Teddy,” she explains.
“It’s a sad time for a child when they have to go to hospital . . . so we teach the children how to knit, and together we make little teddy bears for the ambulance corps.
“The ambulance men now have a teddy to give to the child. It’s a comfort to the child and they can call it their own.”
Joan also participates in The Way We Were, an intergenerational project in which she brings everyday items from her youth to schools around the country – “different things like old paraffin oil lamps, or I have my old school books, and I bring my knitting needles and wool. Theyd be asking the questions, ‘what was that for and what was that for?’ You can imagine.
What does Joan enjoy most about volunteering? “Well, the satisfaction, I suppose. And apart from anything else, doesn’t it keep me young at heart.”
IBM
FOR TECHNOLOGY company IBM, innovation is not just about technology – it also extends to its formal voluntary programme. Through its “On Demand Community” website, both employees and retirees can show how they are contributing to their local communities by logging their volunteering hours online.
To date, IBM employees globally have registered some 11 million hours of volunteering, with almost 60,000 of those hours coming from Irish employees and retirees. Indeed, according to Deirdre Kennedy, corporate citizenship manager with IBM Ireland, some 21 per cent of IBM employees in Ireland have participated in the programme – and the technology company’s involvement will expand this year. As part of its centennial celebrations. Sam Palmisano, IBM chairman, is asking every employee to pledge eight hours of volunteering for their community.
Key to the IBM ethos is “skill- based volunteering solutions”, whereby employees offer not-for- profit organisations their technical skills in areas such as project management, financial planning and technology. “Employees don’t have to use their skills in volunteer projects, but we encourage it,” says Kennedy.
While employees are not entitled to time-off for volunteering, unless its an IBM specific project, IBM also runs a $12 million grant programme globally in conjunction with its volunteering programme.
Individuals can choose their own projects, but IBM also runs specific projects, such as a recent initiative it worked on with Age Action Ireland, offering “silver surfer workshops”. Another initiative is the TryScience website, an online, global science museum. During Science Week and Eweek, volunteers run TryScience Workshops with local primary school students and teachers, using hands-on science and technology experiments from the TryScience website.
And for those looking to contribute further afield, the Corporate Service Corps programme offers employees the opportunity to work on business projects in emerging markets for one month.
CITI
PROMOTING volunteerism among its staff is seen as a way of differentiating financial services firm Citi. With a dedicated, voluntary democratic group, charged with delivering on the company’s volunteering goals, the company takes its corporate and social responsibility remit seriously.
According to Sinead Henshaw, chairwoman of Citi’s community affairs group, staff at Citi can get involved in a wide variety of volunteering opportunities, and can access these through an internal website, which logs details of these opportunities and tracks staff engagement and involvement.
“Where possible we like to leverage inherent skills staff have,” says Henshaw, adding that employees are given one designated volunteer day a year to participate in projects.
Last year, just under 400 employees, or 17 per cent of its workforce in Ireland, were involved in volunteering projects such as the renovation and painting of Cheeverstown House in south Dublin.
Each year, staff at Citi put forward a charity of choice, which is a focus of volunteering and fundraising efforts. In 2010 for example, the staff chose Temple Street Hospital, and Citi agreed to have one member of its staff work in the fundraising office every Monday and Tuesday. This year the company will focus on The Jack and Jill Foundation.
Moreover, engaging with the local community is also seen as important.
“There is a definite ethos at Citi that it has a responsibility to make a difference in the neighbourhoods in which it locates,” says Henshaw, adding, “the aim is to enable people to live these values by supporting local activities”.
In this regard, it is involved in a literacy programme Toe-to-Toe at two national schools in the IFSC area, and it also organises ad hoc activities. It is also a part of the Junior Achievement programme, which promotes education.
And, at Citi, participation on boards of not-for-profit organisations is also encouraged.
