National Volunteer Week 2019 – Waterford Events
National Volunteering Week 2019 will take place from 13th – 19th May with special events in Waterford City and Dungarvan organised to celebrate volunteers and to provide people with information on how they can get involved in volunteering.
The ‘Dungarvan Volunteer Hello’ will take place on Friday 17th May from 11am to 3pm in the Dungarvan Credit Union, and the ‘Waterford Volunteer Hello’ will take place on Saturday 18th May from 11am to 3pm in 22 George’s Street (formerly Carraig Donn shop). Everyone is welcome to come in and say hello; perhaps you’re already a volunteer – if so, we’d like to say thank you. Or maybe you’re interested in becoming a volunteer, or you’re involved in an organisation that needs volunteers – come in and find out how we can help you.
“Volunteering is an intrinsic part of Irish life. It affects us all whether or not we are volunteers ourselves,” according to Catherine Power, of Waterford Area Partnership, who provide the Volunteering Information Service in Waterford. “National Volunteering Week aims to showcase the scale of volunteering in Waterford and inspire people to get involved in volunteering. National Volunteering Week is the perfect chance for us to thank volunteers, to hear their stories and recognise the impact they have on organisations and communities across Waterford.”
Waterford volunteer Jack Stephenson has been selected as a national ambassador for this years National Volunteer Week (bottom left of picture).
2019 marks an historic year for volunteering in Ireland as the Government develops the first ever national volunteering strategy. The strategy has the potential to progress and enhance volunteering in Ireland. One area the strategy will focus on is developing a definition of volunteering, which currently doesn’t exist in an Irish context. To this end, the focus of this year’s campaign is to start a nationwide discussion on volunteering in Ireland – why do people volunteer, what does volunteering mean to people and how does volunteering impact our lives.
Volunteer Waterford is encouraging everyone to think about how volunteering impacts their local community this National Volunteering Week. People can get involved on social media by searching for @volunteerwaterford or by visiting www.volunteerwaterford.ie or by email to connect@volunteerwaterford.ie or by ringing 051 840010
