All kinds of volunteering can make a difference to society, but opportunities like these have community enrichment at their core.

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Tuesday May 24, 2011

Stormont and The Dáil

Ok so here's what's new.

On Tuesday I'm off to meet with those that run the country as part of my 'Campaign & Lobbying course which is sadly nearing its end. Yes that's right I'm off to Stormont and the Dáil and it should be interesting over two days.

There weren't many people at the training residential last weekend but all the same was very productive for me. I actually came up with something to campaign about after realising it didn't have to be something huge in anyway just had to do a campaign. I just have to do it now. It is going to be on highlighting the affects on attacks on Emergency Services and the damage that Emergency services help to clear up like Random Fires; which is a big thing at the moment. We're still in early stages of planning but one idea is to blog about it and another to have talks for young people / youth workers from the Fire Brigade.

New direction

This week I've also decided maybe I need to do something completely different. Things haven't worked out for me at Chest Heart & Stroke and I thank them for letting me volunteer there but it's just not right for me. Instead I've had a meeting with worker at Cedar Foundation - a place that helped set up my placement with Chest Heart & Stroke and I'm going to look at something completely different; perhaps more training and new direction so not admin; maybe working with young people again in some way. I'm supposed to think of something I may want to do based on all the fantastic opportunities I've had volunteering and the training I've done.

 I'm at a bit of a crossroads as to what I want to or should be doing. It's something I'm going to look at further whether to retrain or just get further training and different volunteering opportunities. So I guess its 'watch this space' and time to get my thinking cap on.

Gas yard

Well it's like de ja vu to be honest as part of 'Volunteers Week' and for recognition of the VIP volunteers were having an 'Awards Night' on 2nd June. So like B'OSCARS only different. There's a lot of planning going into this event and chasing after nominations and changing of dates for nominations; as well as planning for the actual event; sending invites, decorating the venue, organising a photographer and music. So I might not have a definite idea about what I want to do or the big question yesterday 'Where I want to be in 10 years time?' But right now I'm doing what I like and I'm looking forward to new challenges ahead, but first challenge is onto Stormont and The Dáil.

 

Posted by Moira ( 3:58 PM )
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Wednesday May 04, 2011

More from the gas yard

Changes

I started with Chest Heart & Stroke Northern Ireland but I only actually did one day due to personal circumstances and it being too far away from where I was staying while my house was being put back together (it was flooded)  I will be starting there again doing admin now at the beginning of May so hopefully it will go better the second time round.

What I did manage to keep going most days was volunteering at the Gas Yard.

Due to all the bad weather we had 'Operation Snowball' where gas yard staff and volunteers all took a hand in helping those who couldn't get out and about due to bad weather by either bringing them meals or taking them shopping or bringing shopping to them; even just befriending people who couldn't get out, which worked so well and seemed to such a need in the bad weather that it will probably be in place for next winter too.

Training

To help me with my volunteering and to expand and my learning during February and March I completed an A Level or FETAC Level 5. (If you're from Republic of Ireland) in Community Leadership. For this we had to keep journals on what we were doing every week as well as plan and run an event; this helped me so much as it got me more involved and improved my confidence as well as meeting people my own age from both sides of the border.  I didn't realize how much it was going to help me. It led onto more training which I'm in middle of with people of my own age group too which is always good.  Training I'm doing now is all about Campaign & Lobbying which I recently started although could be tougher than I thought; as I have to do a campaign about the best way of learning - I'm sure it will come together.  I'm also doing 'RAPP' which is Reconciliation And Peace Programme again is worth an A Level or FETAC Level 5 which  I just started and it's so far so good; the first  weekend was about team building and getting to know each other. We also talked about what we know about conflict and different issues - local, national and worldwide.  So really I should probably be watching the news right now.

Looking back to St Patrick's Day, the Gas Yard had a Family Fun Day which was great and I used it as my project for my Community Leadership course.  To do this I was part of planning and gathering volunteers for the day; on the day I was on the door collecting entrance fees and telling people what was happening during the fun day. It was a busy time and everyone got Irish Stew which was lovely. On Good Friday we had an Easter Family Fun Day with lots to entertain from Face painting to Easter Bonnet making to Sports  Day and the weather was good which was handy as I was sat outside again at the entrance doing the same job as I'd been doing for St Patrick's Day - the only difference was it was very warm, and windy which is not good when sheets of paper decide to take flight!

I'm really busy now and I believe my volunteering has kept me going through a tough time even though some of it had to be put on hold for a while and it has led me as usual into things I wouldn't of dreamed of doing.  Why not give it a try?

Posted by Moira ( 9:37 AM )
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