Training Officer Appointed
Tallaght Echo - 22nd April 2004
South Dublin County Volunteer Centre has appointed a training officer to ensure both
community groups and individuals make best use of the spirit of
volunteerism.
After previously working with the Business in the Community organisation, Clodagh Gorman has been appointed to facilitate the training of groups so as to make the most of the volunteers that come through their doors.
Evaluation reports on the SDCVC have recently pointed to the fact that volunteerism in Tallaght remains buoyant, but poor use of those volunteers means that groups are not retaining the people who they manage to attract.
As well as this, an under-evaluation of the people who sign up to give their time, means that many volunteering roles fall into the category of menial tasks and do not properly utilise the skills these volunteers have learned in their working life.
Over the next three years Ms Gorman aims to improve the situation by looking at the needs of community groups and trying to maximise the benefits to them by choosing the right people for the right jobs
She said: "What we plan to do is look at training organisations to use volunteers that make themselves available, it is about attracting volunteers, utilising volunteers and retaining volunteers.
"I'll be working on a training needs analysis over the next few months with a view to launching the appropriate training programmes for groups in October of this year."
Along with meeting with community groups and examining how best they could use people willing to help, Ms Gorman is anxious to broaden people's opinion on the type of roles that can be filled by volunteers, including high skilled tasks.
For this purpose a special conference is being facilitated by Business in the Community and the SDCVC to showcase the range of skills which corporate staff members can hold and would be available to community groups for free if they use volunteers effectively.
This conference will take place in the National Irish Bank headquarters on the Airton Road on May 13, where 30 community groups will gather to investigate the most productive ways of engaging with the corporate sector to serve their own ends.
As a pilot project Ms Gorman sees the one day seminar as a unique opportunity for groups to learn how to mutually exploit volunteerism within the corporate sector.
She said: "The Business in the Community seminar will provide a forum on the day to show groups how they can get what they need from an organisation."
South Dublin County Volunteer Centre has appointed a training officer to ensure both
community groups and individuals make best use of the spirit of
volunteerism.After previously working with the Business in the Community organisation, Clodagh Gorman has been appointed to facilitate the training of groups so as to make the most of the volunteers that come through their doors.
Evaluation reports on the SDCVC have recently pointed to the fact that volunteerism in Tallaght remains buoyant, but poor use of those volunteers means that groups are not retaining the people who they manage to attract.
As well as this, an under-evaluation of the people who sign up to give their time, means that many volunteering roles fall into the category of menial tasks and do not properly utilise the skills these volunteers have learned in their working life.
Over the next three years Ms Gorman aims to improve the situation by looking at the needs of community groups and trying to maximise the benefits to them by choosing the right people for the right jobs
She said: "What we plan to do is look at training organisations to use volunteers that make themselves available, it is about attracting volunteers, utilising volunteers and retaining volunteers.
"I'll be working on a training needs analysis over the next few months with a view to launching the appropriate training programmes for groups in October of this year."
Along with meeting with community groups and examining how best they could use people willing to help, Ms Gorman is anxious to broaden people's opinion on the type of roles that can be filled by volunteers, including high skilled tasks.
For this purpose a special conference is being facilitated by Business in the Community and the SDCVC to showcase the range of skills which corporate staff members can hold and would be available to community groups for free if they use volunteers effectively.
This conference will take place in the National Irish Bank headquarters on the Airton Road on May 13, where 30 community groups will gather to investigate the most productive ways of engaging with the corporate sector to serve their own ends.
As a pilot project Ms Gorman sees the one day seminar as a unique opportunity for groups to learn how to mutually exploit volunteerism within the corporate sector.
She said: "The Business in the Community seminar will provide a forum on the day to show groups how they can get what they need from an organisation."