National Volunteering Week 2019

National Volunteering Week 2019

 Wed, 8th May, 2019

 National Volunteering Week 2019 takes place form 13th – 19th May with events across the country celebrating volunteers and showing people how they can get involved.

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.

“Volunteering is an intrinsic part of Irish life. It affects us all whether or not we are volunteers ourselves,” according to Amanda Caulfield of Offaly Volunteering Information Services. “National Volunteering Week aims to showcase the scale of volunteering in Ireland and inspire people to volunteer but this year we want to go even deeper. We want to get to the heart of communities across Co. Offaly and hear from volunteers and the organisations that involve them. Why do people volunteer and what can we do to ensure anyone who wants to volunteer can volunteer well into the future?”

Volunteer Ireland is encouraging everyone to think about how volunteering impacts their local community this National Volunteering Week. For those ready to get involved, Volunteer Centres and Volunteering Information Services across the country will host events including open days and coffee mornings where people can find out about volunteering locally and see what goes on in their community. People can get involved on social media using #WhyIVolunteer.

Here at Offaly Volunteering Information Services with Birr and Tullamore MHAs are delighted to offer this evidenced based Workshop on the Five Ways to Wellbeing in partnership with Offaly Volunteer Centre. To celebrate National Volunteer Week 13th > 19th May and to acknowledge the support kindness and generosity offered by so many volunteers at all levels of interest and focus throughout County Offaly. This Workshop offers participants opportunities for self-care and personal development. Evidence suggests these are five steps we can all take to improve and boost our mental wellbeing and create balance in our daily lives.

The Workshop will be facilitate by Finola Colgan Development Officer Mental Health Ireland

Places are limited, To book a place please email Amanda info@volunteeroffaly.ie or finola@mentalhealthireland.ie