About the Volunteer Ireland Awards
The Volunteer Ireland Awards are the major annual initiative to celebrate volunteers in Ireland. The awards shine a light on the remarkable achievements of volunteers around the country by honoring them at a national level.
The 2022 Volunteer Ireland Awards are open now and Fingal Volunteer Centre is encouraging people to submit nominations for Irelands Volunteer of the Year to celebrate the great contribution that your chosen Volunteer has made to communities throughout Fingal County. You can nominate a Volunteer by clicking on this link.
The 2022 Volunteer Ireland Awards are made possible thanks to the support of the Department of Rural and Community Development, and award partners Healthy Ireland.
This year’s Volunteer Ireland Awards will take place in Dublin in December.
You can read the 2021 incredible awardee’s stories here to get a snapshot of the great work done by volunteers throughout the country.
Nominations and Judging
Nominations are open until Sunday the 9th of October 2022. Anyone can nominate a volunteer, someone they know who gives their time and energy voluntarily and without pay.
Individual volunteers or volunteer duos can be nominated in 1 of 8 categories. These categories reflect different facets of volunteering, such as Art, Culture and Festivals, Campaigning & Activism, Health & Wellbeing, Sports & Recreation etc.
Groups of volunteers can also be nominated, there is a small group category (3-20 volunteers) and a large group category (20+ volunteers). Additionally, there is a Covid-19 group category to reflect the great work and contribution to society during the nations struggle with the pandemic earlier in the year.
The final category recognises volunteer managers, those who lead volunteers and manage volunteer programmes. This category is different as volunteer managers can be in either a paid or unpaid position.
Additionally, there is another Volunteer award section called the “Community Hero Award” which is a collaboration between the Volunteer Ireland Awards and The Wheels Charity Impact Awards. The Community Hero Award is a lifetime achievement award honouring a volunteer who has made an extraordinary contribution to a good cause. The 10 longest serving awardees from the Volunteer Ireland Awards are eligible to be selected for the Community Hero Award. The Wheel’s judging panel will select the winner who will be celebrated at The Wheel’s Charity Impact Awards in December.
All nominations are adjudicated by a shortlisting team and a panel of judges. Three awardees are selected in each category and one truly exceptional volunteer is named Christine Buckley Volunteer of the Year.
Recognising Every Nomination
Every volunteer that is nominated will receive a thank you card from Volunteer Ireland. We want to let everyone who is nominated know that their contributions are greatly valued and that someone took the time to put them forward for an award.
Celebrating Our Awardees
Awardees’ volunteer stories will be shared across our social media channels and with local and national press. By sharing these incredible volunteers’ stories we are honouring their contribution to Irish society and also inspiring others to get involved.
