Alan Kelly T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, and Minister of State, Ann Phelan, T.D, today (30 January, 2016) announced funding of €3.148 million in 2016 for 26 organisations involved in volunteering. [see Appendix 1]
The Government’s objective under the Department’s Community & Voluntary Supports & Programmes is to provide a cohesive framework of support for the community and voluntary sector. This programme supports volunteer centres and volunteer information services nationwide, as well as a number of national organisations such as Volunteer Ireland and Young Social Innovators.
Announcing the funding, Minister Kelly said:
‘The funding of these organisations and services is designed to strengthen and foster volunteerism in Ireland, building a support structure for volunteering locally from the bottom up. Volunteering programmes help people to feel connected to their communities, and inspire them to learn ways in which they can exercise influence over what is done and the way it is done. This is key to my Department’s citizen engagement objectives and supports the spirit of participation in communities.’
‘Active citizenship’, the Minister went on to say ‘concerns everyone, and being active in one’s own community educates young and old alike on the important difference that one person, or a few people, can make. The importance and the value of volunteering and volunteers for our communities, indeed for our country, cannot be overstated.
A key determinant of the health of society is the degree to which individuals are prepared to come forward to give of their own time on a voluntary basis. This essentially, the Minister believes, sums up the value of volunteering and the significance it has for the maintenance of a healthy society. The extent of volunteering in a society is a barometer of its civic health. The value of engagement with the voluntary sector has being recognised more and more by Governments worldwide, who have realised that a better and more participative society can be created by listening to the voluntary and community sector as a reflection of the views of large numbers of its citizenry.
There is, the Minister said a great need to work together to ensure that dynamic individuals and groups within our society are given the support and encouragement they need to a difference within their communities. In particular we need to give people greater opportunities to make a difference and to empower them to develop new ways of thinking about the challenges that face us now and into the future. One obvious way we can do this is to support those people and support those organisations like Volunteer Ireland, and all our local volunteer centres and in that regard the Minister wholeheartedly welcomed today’s allocations.
Minister Ann Phelan who has responsibility for Rural Affairs, also welcomed the allocation for volunteering said that “coming from a rural community herself she knew only too well the contribution that those communities can and do make to the development of their own local areas through volunteering” and added that
“Community initiatives and individual participation require spirit, planning and honest endeavour to survive. They provide opportunities to citizens to involve themselves, consciously and actively, in their own development and in the development of their community. Volunteering to involve themselves in Community initiatives empowers people and provides them with the opportunity and framework to make a difference in the locality in which they live.”
There is a wide range of social and community initiatives operating across Ireland, all of which are only possible because of alliances that have formed between communities, voluntary agencies, government, and business. The Minister concluded by reiterating his confidence that these alliances can be of even greater benefit into the future. The level of professionalism, skill and cooperation that now exists in communities and within the voluntary sector in Ireland has never been greater than it is today.
Ends
Appendix 1: Funding for Volunteering in 2016
Grantee 2016 Allocation
Carlow Volunteer Centre €100,575
Clare Volunteer Centre €80,000
Cork Volunteer Bureau €112,603
Donegal Volunteer Project €117,986
Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Volunteer Centre €86,901
Fingal €104,263
Galway Volunteer Centre €121,148
Kerry Volunteer Bureau €107,951
Kildare Volunteer Bureau €110,000
Limerick Volunteer Centre €133,312
Longford Volunteer Centre €64,923
Louth Volunteer Centre €103,730
Mayo Volunteer Bureau €102,242
Meath Volunteer Centre €100,552
Monaghan Volunteer Centre €65,457
Sligo Volunteer Centre €94,900
South Dublin County Volunteer Centre formerly Tallaght €155,528
South Tipperary Volunteer Centre €142,169
Dublin City Volunteer Centre €256,758
Westmeath Volunteer Centre €104,741
Wicklow Volunteer Bureau €117,096
Other Organisations
Volunteer Ireland €410,000
Boardmatch Ireland €58,520
Young Social Innovators €210,000
Focus Ireland €57,210
Chambers Ireland €30,100
Total €3,148,665