Thursday,February 23,2012

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Volunteer Management Training - March 2012 20 February 2012, 13.59

Volunteer Management Training South Dublin County Volunteer Centre is delighted to announce details of our upcoming training in Volunteer Management. Our next course will be held in March 2012 in the

19th April 2012

4pm - 8pm

County Library, Tallaght

Are you looking to recruit volunteers for your organisation?
Is your business interested in finding out more about volunteering and corporate social responsibility?
Are you an individual interested in finding out more about how to volunteer locally?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, then the volunteer trade show is for you!

What is the trade show?

The South Dublin County Volunteer Trade show invites community groups to set up stall and publicise their volunteering opportunities to both businesses and the general public alike at County Library, Tallaght on 19th April 2012.

The vision behind the trade show is that community groups will be supported (before the trade show itself) to develop and "pitch" volunteering opportunities that are specific to involving corporate volunteers as well advertising their normal volunteering opportunities to the general public.

We will have 2 hands on, practical workshops (in Tallaght and Clondalkin) prior to the Trade Show to support groups to "make their pitch to businesses".

We are also working with Business in the Community and the South Dublin Chamber of Commerce to encourage businesses to attend the trade show on day.

Who should come along to the trade show?

Voluntary Groups, community organisations and charities who work with and invovle volunteers and are looking to increase their volunteer numbers
Citizens who are interested in finding out more about volunteering.
Corporate Responsibility Managers and Managers who are responsible for community relations.
Directors and Managers of businesses (large, medium and small) who are interested in building community partnerships.

What next?

If your community organisation is interested in having a stall the trade show, you will need to register for the event. Our registration form is on line at here. The website contains some more information on the event, case studies and images from previous events.

Alternatively you can click here to download the trade show brochure with more information and a hard copy of the application form.

Please note that there will be 2 workshops (on 7th and 12th March) for community groups to support them in making their pitch to businesses. As places are limited at the trade show, preference will be given to those community groups who attend this training.

Anything else?

Yes - as part of the trade show, on the day we will be running different workshops exploring volunteering issues as well as corporate social responsibility issues. More news on those to follow!

Organised by:

Business in the Community, Ireland

South Dublin County Volunteer Centre

County Development Board

Dodder Valley Partnership

CPLN Area Partnership

South Dublin County Council

Visit our website at www.volunteersouthdublin.ie/tradeshow

email us on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call Tricia @ 01 462 8558 for more information.

South Dublin Tidy towns

A South Dublin County Tidy Towns public meeting is taking place in Tallaght Stadium on Thursday 16^th February at 7.30pm. Speakers will include a Tidy Towns competition adjudicator, Public Realm Designer, speaker from Lucan Tidy Towns group and representative from the recycling online system Freetrade.

Any member of the public can attend especially those who are interested in making their town or village a better place to live in and who are willing to get involved in Tidy Towns? To reserve a place, book online at www.sdcc.ie. The meeting will give people an opportunity to get advice, discover details of support and establish a network to work together in their area

The Mayor Caitriona Jones said “Tidy Towns is a wonderful concept and this is very evident when you visit a town or village that has been active in Tidy Towns. The competition is a national one and the format, planning and feedback is useful in developing and progressing a locality. The Tidy Towns competition is not only about landscaping but now includes recycling and biodiversity as well as litter control and management” . Mayor Jones encourages everyone in the county to get involved saying “I would greatly encourage everyone to get involved in Tidy Towns and attend the public meeting in Tallaght Stadium on 16^th February. I am delighted that a speaker from Lucan is attending as well as an adjudicator from Tidy Towns and other experts. The residents of Lucan have long experience of Tidy Towns and this is plain to see in the village. I look forward to many mentions of the County in future results”

Over 1,000 communities from all parts of the country have participated in TidyTowns since it started and it is this widespread engagement with the local environment that has brought about the transformation of so many towns and villages throughout Ireland.

The reasons why TidyTowns has gone on to become the national movement we know today are many, and include the following

· It’s a simple but powerful idea that people can make a difference to their own area and make them better places to live, work and visit.

· Tidy Towns provides a framework for ideas to come to life; a best practice guide to maximise intent and guarantee results.

· Tidy Towns is a competition where areas can be independently and constructively assessed against a general standard of excellence and against each other, thereby increasing standards year on year.

For more information contact: Maire NI Dhomhnaill

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Ph: 01-4149000

Volunteer Centre Newsletter - January 12

Volunteer Centre Newsletter

Monday 9th January 2012

New Community Hub Announced.

Are you a small community group in South Dublin County? Looking for some office space where you can work from for a morning/afternoon or even a day each week? Want to work in an open office environment with support structures such as a Community and Voluntary library, access to support from professional staff, IT support?

South Dublin County Volunteer Centre is delighted to announce that we are opening a new, small Community Hub this year from our offices in Tallaght. We would like to offer groups in the county FREE office space that groups can work from to do their administrative work for a fixed period of time each week (a morning/afternoon/day). We will provide Computers, Printers, Filing Space and Internet Access.

This project is aimed at small community groups who may struggle to pay rent for office space or have no office space and is looking for an space to work out of for small, fixed periods of time. Booking of the space will be on a first come, first served basis and groups must already be registerd with the volunteer centre to avail of this service.

For more information contact Tricia at 01 462 8558 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Our thanks to Dodder Valley Partnership for funding this project.

Some volunteering numbers from 2011 - did you know?...

1361 - the number of volunteers who engaged with the volunteer Centre during 2011.
378 - the number of volunteer placements carried out during 2011
52 - the number of new organisations registered with the centre.
488 - the number of new volunteering vacancies identified.
68% - the percentage of volunteers aged under 35 who registered to volunteer during the year
222 - the number of volunteers from businesses who engaged in one day employer supported volunteering projects during the year
59% - the percentage of registered volunteers who had never volunteered before
30,500 - the number of hours worked by volunteers who were placed by the volunteer centre to date
20 - the equivalent number of full time jobs that would be needed to replace these volunteer hours.
€500,000 - the in-kind value in Euro of volunteer hours through the Volunteer Centre in 2011 when multiplied by the average industrial wage
714 - the number of organisations now registered with the Volunteer Centre
934 - the amount of Garda Vetting forms processed (for a total of 52 local groups).

South Dublin County Volunteer Corps

The South Dublin County Volunteer Corps (a project of the Volunteer Centre and South Dublin County Council) is now finished it's pilot phase. 2011 was a really successful year for this project with over 130 people registering to participate in the Corps and 9 projects particiated in.

Led by South Dublin County Volunteer Centre and South Dublin County Council, the South Dublin County Volunteer Corps is volunteer led movement of citizens of the county who make themselves available to volunteer at various events and/or emergencies in the county.

The volunteer corps will be contacted and mobilised to respond to extreme weather events buyt will mainly be available for large community activities such as parades, festivals, sporting events etc…

You can register an interest in the volunteer corps by clicking here. We will contact you with more information about the Corps and details of upcoming induction events.

If you are an organisation you can request the Corps to help out with your event. Once we've established that you meet certain criteria, we will inform the Corps of your event and organise for them to be there to help you on the day.

You can find out more on our website at www.volunteercorps.ie

Some upcoming and urgent volunteer vacancies

We have developed a new system to advertise individual volunteer vacancies on line - and as the year progresses we are hoping to facebook and "tweet" more volunteer vacancies.

Click on any of the links below to find more details of the these urgent and/or upcoming volunteer vacancies.

• Horse Riding Assistants with Fettercairn Horse Project
• Volunteers with the Bealtaine Festival

• Minibus Driver for South Dublin Senior Citizens Club
• Website designer for Irish Therapy Dogs

South Dublin County Volunteer Centre,
Unit F, Block 2, Exchange Hall, Tallaght, Dublin 24
www.volunteersouthdublin.ie.
www.facebook.com/volunteerdublin

Celebrate Volunteering!


Celebrate Volunteering on 5th December International Volunteer Day
As you know, 2011 celebrated the European Year of Volunteering and we had many events in South Dublin County to celebrate and highlight the year. As the year draws to a close, we realise there is one more opportunity to celebrate volunteering - DECEMBER 5TH - which is the annual UN International Volunteer Day. There will be events across the country to mark the day including the Ireland Involved National Volunteer Awards in Dublin. We would like encourage community groups in South Dublin County to take the time on this day to perhaps do something small to thank YOUR volunteers who are the life blood of so many community groups. You can find resources and ideas to thank your volunteers on our website at http://www.volunteersouthdublin.ie/voluntary-orgs/resources/articles-on-volunteering.html

Thank you Pin The Volunteer Centre and South Dublin County Council have also developed a small "Proud to be a Volunteer" pin that you might think of presenting to your volunteers at a Thank You Event. There is a small cost for these pins (1.50 per pin) which only covers the cost of production. The pins comes signed by the Mayor of South Dublin - thanking volunteers for volunteering in the county. (see If you're interested in purchasing some pins to celebrate and thank your volunteers, please contact us here in the volunteer centre at 01 462 8558 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Menni Services, SDCC and Abbott - NDV 2011

SDCC Social Inclusion Unit, Menni Services and Abbott came together to do some fantastic work on a Sensory Garden in Sean Walsh Park as part of the National Day of Volunteering 2011. Check out some great images below