Happy Christmas from Volunteer Ireland!

As we look forward to the festive season we are still on a high from our recent Volunteer Ireland Awards where we crowned the Christine Buckley Volunteer of the Year, Ola Mustapha. Ola has been living in Direct Provision in Ballyhaunis for 5 years and has dedicated herself to improving the lives of her fellow residents - organising activities, encouraging donation drives and helping them integrate into the local community. You can read about all of the winners and nominees here. 

2019 has been a busy year for Volunteer Ireland. We launched our new I-VOL app meaning people can apply and search for volunteer roles on the go in just a few clicks. We began the process of creating 8 new Volunteer Centres - thanks to funding from the Department of Rural and Community Development - which means by the end of 2020 every county in Ireland will have a full service Volunteer Centre.

Our corporate team delivered more Team Impact Days than ever before while we added a suite of webinars to our volunteer management training offering. We also increased our advocacy output, producing our first ever Pre Budget Submission calling for a range of initiatives to support volunteering in Ireland.

But while we reflect on the past, we're already looking to the future! For the past year we have been on the National Advisory Group on Ireland's first ever national volunteering strategy. After much hard work, the Government are hoping to release the first draft of the strategy just before Christmas. There will be a consultation process where people can provide their thoughts and feedback before the strategy is finalised. We will be hosting our own consultation meetings in January to inform our own response so keep your eyes peeled for details early next year.

Finally, all the team at Volunteer Ireland would like to take this opportunity to extend our best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!