Hello and welcome to our media room. My name is Yvonne McKenna and I am the CEO of Volunteer Ireland (VI). Volunteer Ireland was formed in June 2011 as the result of a merger between Volunteer Centres Ireland and Volunteering Ireland. The media in Ireland play a very important role in recognising the importance of volunteering and highlighting for history the difference that people have made while volunteering. This media room was created to foster and facilitate a stronger relationship between volunteering and the media so a clear and transparent message is communicated in promoting the national volunteer framework and the national body for volunteering in Ireland, Volunteer Ireland. It is a great privilege to serve as CEO of the national volunteer centre and watch the development of volunteering and a volunteering infrastructure in Ireland through a strong and committed network of individuals and organisations.

In 2005, the government mandated Volunteer Centres Ireland with developing the volunteering infrastructure in Ireland through a network of local volunteer centres operating in every county in Ireland. We take this responsibility very seriously and were delighted, in January of this year, to welcome our 17th member. Putting people who want to volunteer in touch with organisations that are seeking volunteers, local volunteer centres work on the ground to develop the range, quantity and quality of volunteering in Ireland and are at the heart of the volunteering policy of our government.

VCI was formed back in 2001 when the four volunteer centres then in existence came together to share experiences and discuss how best to carry out their duties. Since then, we have developed into a separate organisation with wider aims and objectives, chief amongst which is to promote and develop volunteering in Ireland. VCI has assisted in the emergence of 13 local volunteer centres and look forward to a time when everyone in Ireland, no matter who they are or where they live, can access the services of a local volunteer centre. We’re especially proud of co-ordinating the first national day of volunteering ever to take place in Ireland, which will become an annual event. Over 2007, our member volunteer centres recorded a record 143,500+ volunteering hours – that’s equivalent to 76.5 full time members of staff over the year!!

Volunteer centres work tirelessly for their communities and have become a hub of community spirit, community interaction and integration. Volunteering is vital to community, but it’s also good for the individual. Volunteering is a way of getting involved and giving something back. It can have positive health benefits, contribute to a better work-life balance and really enrich a person’s life. Because volunteering is anything and everything – any job you’ve ever wanted to do or never thought you would – there’s no limit to what volunteering can achieve: from active citizenship to social inclusion, from personal development to integration, from a greater sense of community to longevity.

Volunteer Ireland is working closely with the Department of Environment, Community, & Local Government to develop a realistic and forward-looking policy for volunteering in Ireland. A reflection of the government’s commitment to volunteering, this policy will result in a more cohesive and accessible volunteering infrastructure, one that is better equipped to respond to volunteers and volunteering in Ireland today. It is testimony to the hard work of VI and our member Volunteer Centres that we have been asked to assist the Department and we look forward to being able to share that policy with you in the near future. The establishment of the Taskforce and Office of Active Citizenship are important milestones for volunteering and we look forward to assisting the Office achieve their goals and communicate their message that ‘together, we’re better’.

In an era when community spirit and active citizenship are being debated and questioned, it is heartening to know that our network of volunteer centres throughout Ireland are working everyday to help people get involved and give something back. Volunteering is difficult to capture in a single definition but something it certainly is, is positive energy. VI and the network of volunteer centres are here to harness that energy and direct it for the benefit of individuals, volunteer-involving organisations, community and Irish society.