Tallaght Echo ? 23rd December

Tallaght Volunteer Bureau has welcomed its 1,000th recruit since it opened in 1999 and its manager sees this as proof that local civic spirit is alive and well.

After signing up 50 people in its first year the Tallaght service has grown in size and recently reached the landmark 1,000th volunteer. The age profile on the books of TVB shows an often unrecognised willingness among young people to offer their time to community groups and charitable organisations. At present there are 427 people under the age of 25 registered as volunteers, which bureau manager Tricia Nolan said counters a lot of the negative impressions that are bandied about regarding today?s younger generation. She said: ?We are becoming more and more aware of the fact that people are still prepared to give up their time, no matter what people say. The amount of people under the age of 25 shows that young people are there and do want to work for the community.?

The bureau has 220 organisations listed with more than 600 volunteering posts on offer and that is before factoring in once-off volunteering opportunities such as church-gate collections and bag-packing events. Ms Nolan added that the bureau?s statistics show civic-mindedness is present across the Tallaght area. She said: ?We have broken down Tallaght into the various parishes and it is Springfield and Jobstown that provide the largest amount of volunteers. Having read the reports about west Tallaght ? saying it is all doom and gloom ? we would say that is not the case.?

Following the recruitment of a training officer by the bureau earlier this year, it is hoped 2005 will see the service expand further with the introduction of a support worker to help people with special needs. An outreach worker will also be employed under dormant accounts funding to establish better links between the village service and the outlying communities in Tallaght such as Brookfield, Fettercairn and Killinarden.

With the success of TVB so far, Ms Nolan is adamant that the volunteer sector deserves adequate funding as it seeks to broaden its scope and improve the relevancy of voluntary positions in the community.