Issue 34: November 2001 - Youth Work Ireland

ternational Year of the VolDecember 5th will probably herald the completion ofmost official volunteering recog nition activitiesworldwide. For many organisations the year has cutdeeper than purely celebration activities. Reflectionupon, and questioning of the strong tradition ofvolunteering in I reland, indeed on the planet hasbeen a significant aspect of the year.For us here at the Vol unteering Ireland (formerly theVolunteer Resource Centre) preparations for theyear began in 1997 wh en the UN Assemblyproclaimed 2001 as the International Year ofVol unteers. Feeding into the White Paper andencouraging and supporting the notion of the settingup of some sort of national forum to do somethingconstructive around vol unteering for the UnitedNations International Year of the Volunteer was alen gthy process. In September 2000, thegovernment published the white paper "Aframework for supporting voluntary activity &developing the rel ationship between theCommunity and Voluntary sector" fol l owingwidespread consultation. The white paper seeks to"formulate a coherent strategy and identify thepolicy response at National, Regional and locallevels which will most effectively address theissues raised during the consultation process".to address issues that concern them and tospeak directly on issues that affect them. But wecan also see the strains that voluntaryorganisations are under in today's society".National Commi tteeAt Volunteering Ireland we hope the resulting actionswill have a resou nding effect on theway wevolunteer, recruit and manage volunteers and onhow volunteering is perceived in the long term. Thisyear, the National Committee on Volunteering, uponwhich Volunteering Ireland is represented, hasfocused mainly on celebrations with:• A grants scheme to support volunteering projectslaunched in March,• The issuing of a celebration pack for nationwidedistribution ,• Creation of a National Committee on Vol unteeringwebsite ,• Commissioning & publication of poems ce lebratingthe role vol unteers have played in shaping Irishsociety,• A major cross border conference "Tipping thebalance" aiming to reach a shared vision onsupporting volu nteering• Finally, the presentation of sculptures designed byAlan Ardiff to all local authorities across the countryto mark the contribution of vo lunteers in their areas,will take place on 1 O December.On 5 Decembe r 2000, United Nations InternationalVolunteers Day, the National Committee onVoluntee ring was launched, chaired by Chris FloodTD. At the end of 2002 detailed recommendationson the range of supports needed in order topromote, sustain & develop volunteering will besubmitted by the National Committee to Governmentfor consideration."Volunteering benefits all aspects of social lifeand helps to create a real sense of citizenship. Astrong democracy enhances and protects thecapacity of citizens to participate directly insocial life, to create their own social movementsNext year the deliberations of the NationalCommittee on Volunteering and therecommendations it makes to the state along withthe report from the White Paper ImplementationCommittee will decide the future of the State'srelationship with the community and voluntary sectorand the support systems that will be set up. The callfor submissions on how this can best be achievedhas gone out and to date over 70 submissions fromorganisations and individuals have been received.Among many recommendations made byVolunteering Ireland to the National Committee are:• The necessity for continuing to recognise explicitlyand universal ly the value of volunteering• That the issue of a combined workforce involuntary organisations consisting of volunteers,paid staff and participants on FAS schemes shouldIrish YouthWork Scene•November 2001