National Volunteering Week is celebrated across Ireland in May every year. This year, the celebration will kick off here in County Louth on May 14^th with an online Exploring Volunteering session looking at the breadth of volunteering roles available across county Louth and there will be a number of ways to get involved across the county throughout the week.

Louth Volunteer Centre will host their first in-person Volunteer Leadership Seminar since 2019 in the Market House in Dunleer on Tuesday May 17^th. The seminar is for any group that involves volunteers in their work to come together and celebrate the contribution of volunteers to the community, as well as to share learning and re-connect with other groups following a difficult two years. “Volunteer leaders are a vital asset to our community,” says Louth Volunteer Centre Manager, Kayleigh Mulligan, “There is a lot of work that gets done in County Louth that wouldn’t be possible without the time and skills of volunteers as we know, and it is also vitally important to recognise the people that lead and manage these volunteers.” The seminar will give Community & Voluntary groups the opportunity to network and discuss future plans and projects. This event will be followed by the launch of Louth Volunteer Centre’s ‘New Connections’ project. “We are delighted to have recently received funding from Mental Health Ireland to deliver New Connections. This project will focus on working with people from marginalised groups to connect to their communities in a new way through volunteering,” says Kayleigh, “Volunteering has long been recognised as a route to improved wellbeing and mental health through improved social connections, sense of purpose and improved confidence, for example. New Connections will help people to discover new ways to connect to their communities through volunteering opportunities facilitated by Louth Volunteer Centre.”

Later in the week, Louth Volunteer Centre is asking volunteers to “Bring a Friend” along to their open days in Ardee Library on Thursday 19th, and in their Dundalk and Drogheda offices on Friday 20^th of May. These events will run from 10am-12pm on both days with tea/coffee and a light breakfast provided for volunteers.  

The week will close with a recognition of the week’s intersection with the start of Biodiversity Week on May 21^st, with some Bracken Bashing in Clogherhead with the Louth Community Volunteers and in partnership with Louth County Council, who are funders of the Louth Community Volunteers programme. Volunteers will be assisting with the removal of bracken, which is an invasive species and must be managed.

For further information on any of the events being held for National Volunteering Week, click here.

Louth Volunteer Centre have launched a new quarterly ezine in 2022 called the Voice of Volunteering, and issue one is now available. This issue contains information on upcoming Training and Events, National Volunteering Week 2022, the new Louth Community Volunteers programme and much more..

Click here to read.

Louth Volunteer Centre are delighted to be working with Carmichael once again.