Who do you volunteer for ?

RATM wrote: »

So Im staring down the barrel of the Social Welfare office in about 8 weeks time, things are not looking good for employment prospects either and Im thinking of cutting the boredom with volunteering for some organisations ore other.

I'm ooking for other Boardsies who have done likewise to give their opinions on which kinds of volunteering are out there and what they've gained from the experience. I really dont know anyone who has volunteered in Ireland so just looking to get a heads up of how it is.

Ratm, I am sorry to hear of you loosing your job but it used to be a condition of receiving social welfare that you always had to be available for work, so if you went (with the best intentions ) volunteering it may be viewed that you were not available and be cut off. Dont take my word for it but certainly ask around first.

i've volunteered with an organization that offers support services to people coming to terms with their sexuality. i know that for most of us "coming to terms with our sexuality" is usually a good time, but for some it can be quite daunting and isolating, and some families have a hard time dealing with it.
but moving to the other side of the country in a few weeks so will be looking for a new org to volunteer with -possibly a rape crisis centre.

Hi,

I volunteer with a small unit of St. John Ambulance Brigade in Ballinteer/Dundrum.

Every year, hundreds of people are dying needlessly or suffering life-long disability because people don't know basic first aid. CPR is proven to be the difference between life and death. Even something as simple as knowing how to put someone in the recovery position could save a life.

Our vision is simple; everyone should have immediate access to first aid no matter where they are or what they are doing at the onset of illness or injury. To this end, we train the public in first aid and we also provide first aid at events; everything from Croke Park with 80,000 people to small community events with less than 100.

In Ballinteer/Dundrum, we desperately need volunteers. Please PM me if you are interested. We are always looking for bright and enthusiastic people.

If you want to learn a bit more about our organisation:
St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland - First Aid Courses and Event Cover

Otherwise, look at one of the following organisations who do the same thing:
Order of Malta
Civil Defense
Irish Red Cross

Even if you don't want to volunteer, still try to attend a course.

Regards,
Pat Rushe

(As an aside: Personally, I think first aid should be taught to every child in every school in every year of their education for a couple of hours, and should be a prerequisite to having a driving license (as is the case in a lot of European countries).

Our A&E departments are overrun, and part of the problem is that people don't know how to differentiate between something a GP can handle, and something that requires emergency care. So there is an economic and social benefit to training the populace in first aid. Also, when big events are on, having trained first aiders on-site can prevent local hospitals being put under even more pressure. I simply can't understand why a couple of hours from the academic year cannot be devoted to this life skill... Even a basic Cardiac First Responder course, which only takes a couple of hours, would give people the skills to deal with the most serious of incidents.. Rant over.. ;) ).