Oscar Egan has been on student placement with Volunteer Ireland since the beginning of March. In that time, he has been an invaluable member of the team supporting a number of Team Impact Days and even volunteering to take part in the National Volunteering Week photo launch. In today’s blog he tells us a little bit about his time here.
I’m coming towards the end of my internship at Volunteer Ireland and I’m having a good experience here. I am part of the corporate team which means working in the office and taking part in active volunteering projects.
A big part of our work is sourcing, organising and managing employee volunteering projects known as Team Impact Days. A Team Impact Day is a project in which a group of employees from a corporate company take part in a day of volunteering at an organisation such as a school or community centre in order to make a difference. The type of activities that take place are usually gardening, painting and refurbishment. The organisations where the work is carried out do not have the resources to do it themselves, so we make it possible through Team Impact Days.
I deal with the enquiries. I send information to people from companies who are interested in getting involved. We have an available projects list which is sent out once a potential client would like to proceed and find a project that suits the company’s availability and number of volunteers. Volunteer Ireland provides project management and also all the necessary tools.
The projects usually start around 9am and finish at around 4pm. The difference that is made during that time is phenomenal, as I know from experiencing it myself. The areas in which the projects are carried out are usually in rack and ruin at first and by the end of the day are completely transformed in a positive way.
I’ve taken part in many Team Impact Days so far and still have more to come.
Points of Light is the biggest volunteering organisation in the world and provides funding for major volunteering projects, usually over the space of a week. I took part in the first 2 days of Points of Light global Week of Possibilities project in Dublin and could already see the difference being made. I saw pictures of the room when it was finished and the difference that was made was unbelievable.
I’m finishing here at the end of June but am staying on to take part in a week long Points of Light project in Sligo. It will be a great way to finish my time here.
