PRESS RELEASE
15th September
Fingal Urged to Thank Unsung Heroes During
National Volunteering Week
The programme for National Volunteering Week 2020 was launched today with a focus on thanking volunteers across the country and supporting their health and well-being. Representatives from Aware, ALONE, Irish Cancer Society and Women’s Aid joined Volunteer Ireland to kick off the campaign and say thank you to all volunteers who have given so much. National Volunteering Week will run from 21st – 27th September 2020.
According to Daiga, Fingal Volunteer Centre Manager, “Volunteers do so much for our communities every day, and in particular during the current pandemic volunteers have been astounding. Now is our chance to give something back to these extraordinary people who give so much for others. We want volunteers across Fingal to take a moment to do something for themselves during National Volunteering Week – there are free events running all week from yoga classes to mental health workshops to webinars. But most of all, we want to say thank you to each and every volunteer for everything that they do. We’d also like to encourage anyone that has been impacted by a volunteer to take a moment to say thank you.”
The programme of events, run by Volunteer Ireland and the network of Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services, will be supported by a communications campaign sharing personal stories of volunteers and organisations across the week.
Joe O’Brien TD, Minister of State for Community Development and Charities, added “The COVID-19 crisis has presented a challenge like nothing we have seen before and volunteers have been working tirelessly since the very beginning of this pandemic. The support that volunteers have provided through these critical and uncertain times has clearly shown how much they are the backbone of our communities. During National Volunteering Week, I want to give a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of the volunteers around the country. Remember to take time for yourself this week, your health and well-being are just as important as those you are caring for.”
This year, we are also encouraging volunteers to take stock of their own mental health and well-being as living and volunteering throughout a pandemic can be challenging. We are delighted to partner once again with Healthy Ireland who share our vision of healthy, sustainable communities.
Kate O’Flaherty, Head of Health and Well-being at the Department of Health, said “Volunteering has a critical role to play in supporting healthy, resilient communities. Volunteers have been an integral part of the response to COVID-19 and it is essential that they take time to focus on their own health and well-being during these challenging times and the months ahead. We are delighted to partner with National Volunteering Week again this year and say thank you to volunteers in communities across the country.”
You can check out our events here. We are also inviting organisations to think about how they can thank their volunteers with lots of ideas to get started on www.volunteerfingal.ie.
For more information:
+353 1 899 1921
Email: admin@volunteerfingal.ie
Notes to Editor
About National Volunteering Week
National Volunteering Week is the annual week where we celebrate all things volunteering. This year the week will have a dual focus – thanking volunteers and organisations for everything they have done this year and encouraging them to focus on your own health and well-being. A local and national communications campaign supported by a programme of events will take place from 21st – 27th September 2020. National Volunteering Week usually takes place during the third week of May but was postponed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
About Volunteer Ireland
Volunteer Ireland is the national volunteer development organisation and a support body for all local Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services in Ireland. Our vision is an Ireland where everyone who wants to volunteer can volunteer to create a better society. Volunteer Ireland works to increase awareness of, access to and quality in volunteering in Ireland. For further information, visit: http://www.volunteer.ie/
About Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services
The 22 Volunteer Centres provide a placement service between individuals and groups who want to undertake voluntary activity and organisations that are seeking to involve volunteers. Volunteer Centres are the local leaders in community engagement, supporting and promoting volunteering. The aims of the 7 Volunteering Information Services in Ireland are the same as Volunteer Centres. As Volunteering Information Services are at the first stage of development of a Volunteer Centre, they provide a basic service, hosting a website and providing access to the national volunteering database. A full list of Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services is available here.
For PDF download click here: NVW Press Release
