VOLUNTEERING PROGRAMME FOR GORT

Galway East TD and Minister of State for Rural and Community Development Seán Canney is urging the people of Gort and South Galway to support a new pilot outreach programme by Galway Volunteer Centre.
Minister Canney said: “This is a great initiative. Volunteering plays such a valuable role in Irish life and as the Minister responsible for the voluntary sector across Ireland I am fully supportive of this pilot project.”
The Gort project, which aims to promote volunteering in south Galway, is being co-ordinated by Teresa Butler.
Anyone interested in volunteering can arrange to meet her at the Gort Family Resource Centre. She is available fortnightly on a Thursday between 3-5pm. Appointments can be made by emailing [email protected] or by calling 091-581727.
Minister Canney’s department provides €3.5 million a year to fund 21 Volunteer Centres and eight Volunteer Information Centres around the country.
Other volunteer-supported outreaches from the Galway Volunteer Centre include Dóchas Don Óige training centre for early school leavers, COPE Galway, Galway Theatre Festival, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October that is organised by Breast Cancer Research based in University Hospital Galway and Green Sod Ireland, which runs ecology projects, the latest of which is being taught in 21 primary schools across Galway, Kildare and Dublin.
The Department for Rural and Community Development is currently collating responses to a consultation process aimed at developing a National Volunteering Strategy for Ireland.