Galway City Volunteer Fair at Eyre Square Centre on 26th & 27th March
19 Mar 2011
A ‘who’s who’ of community organisations and charities will be looking for volunteers to help them in their work at the Galway City Volunteer Fair, which will take place at the Old City Wall in Eyre Square Shopping Centre on the 26th and 27th March. The Fair will be held along the old city wall from 12 noon until 6.00pm on both days, and members of the public are invited to talk to organisations involved in the community, sports and arts to find out what help they need, and how to get involved.
Organisations who have registered to date are Galway Simon, Galway Rape Crisis Centre, Foundation Nepal, Make A Wish, COPE Galway, St. Vincent De Paul, Age Action, Meningitis Trust, Brigits Garden, Samaritans Galway, Galway Contact, Positive Mental Health, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Ballybane Acitive Retirement Association, Oxfam Ireland, 14th St Patrick’s Scout Group, Dochas Nasamu, Galway United, Jigsaw, and Ironman Ireland. “Anyone interested in volunteering can come along and speak to the organisations about the work that they are doing. You don’t have to make an immediate commitment if you don’t want to, its more of an opportunity to see how you can get involved in your community,” said Donncha Foley, Development Manager of Galway Volunteer Centre. Donncha also stated that the variety of organisations that will be at the Volunteer Fair shows that there are a diversity of opportunities available that should suit everybody. The Volunteer Fair is being organised by Galway Volunteer Centre and local councillors Niall Mc Nelis and Declan Mc Donnell and is part of the activities organised to mark 2011 as the European Year of Volunteering. There is still a small amount of space available for organisations who wish to have a stand at the fair, and organisations can register by contacting Donncha at 091 539930 or by emailing donncha@volunteergalway.ie People finding volunteer work through Galway Volunteer Centre have contributed an estimated over €1.5 million worth of volunteer hours in Galway City and County since 2006. GVC estimates that this is the equivalent of 60 full time workers for the non-profit sector in Galway. The centre usually has around 100 vacancies available at any one time it tries to meet with as many people as possible to identify suitable opportunities for them. Galway Volunteer Centre is a one-stop shop for voluntary activity, providing volunteering opportunities for the public, sourcing much needed volunteers for organisations and providing support for organisations in managing volunteers. For more information on Galway Volunteer Centre or the Galway City Volunteer Fair you can visit the website www.volunteergalway.ie , phone 091 539930 or call into the office at 17/18 Mill Street.
