Volunteer Centres are at the hearts of communities across Ireland working to support, promote and celebrate volunteering. They help people who want to volunteer find suitable roles; and help organisations in need of volunteers to find suitable people to fill those roles. They provide support and advice to both volunteers and organisations; deliver training; process Garda vetting and run a range of other projects dedicated to facilitating and enhancing volunteering locally. The majority of services offered by your local Volunteer Centre are completely free!
Your local Volunteer Centre will discuss what you would like to do, what skills you have to share and how much time you have to give. They will do their best to find a volunteer role that best suits your needs. Remember the right role might not be there straight away but the Volunteer Centre is always on hand for support.
If you’re not sure if volunteering is right for you or what you should do, your local Volunteer Centre will give you all the information you need and offer any support and advice to help you make the best decision for you.
There are so many wonderful things happening in our communities and so many great stories to be told. Your local Volunteer Centre works hard to spread the word of volunteering through social media, traditional media and outreach to show the impact volunteers have on our communities every day and inspire new people to volunteer.
You can register with your local Volunteer Centre and advertise volunteer roles with them locally on www.i-vol.ie. Your Volunteer Centre will also showcase the roles on social media. They can refer suitable volunteers or have volunteers apply directly to you – whichever suits your organisation best.
Your local Volunteer Centre offers training in volunteer engagement along with a wealth of resources on best practice in volunteer management. They are also on hand to offer support and advice should you have any queries about engaging volunteers.
If you’re engaging volunteers that require Garda vetting, your local Volunteer Centre can process this vetting for you. Although Garda vetting has often been seen as a barrier to volunteering, the current process is extremely smooth and turnaround times are much shorter now.
