Stewarts Care Help Spread Holiday Cheer!
Stewarts Care Help Spread Holiday Cheer!
Carlow Volunteer Centre had a fun morning with the fantastic group from Le Cheile Day Service, Stewarts Care, Palmerstown. They travelled to Carlow to visit us in the Volunteer Centre and then delivered their beautiful Christmas Care Packages to the service users at Carlow Day Care Centre.
Thank you to all involved; a lovely way to start the week with Christmas cheer and giving in the community. It was a pleasure to meet everyone, and thank you again for the lovely shoeboxes made with such care and attention and the warm welcome received at Carlow Day Care.
Volunteer Education Programme for Schools
Volunteer Education Programme for Schools
Sinéad visited schools across County Carlow, speaking to students to let them know about the benefits and importance of volunteering for themselves and for their community.
Sinéad spoke with almost 600 students, mostly those doing Transition Year and the Leaving Cert Applied programme, utilising group activities to show what’s involved in volunteering and highlighting that many of the extracurricular activities like coaching and helping their neighbour are also a form of volunteering.
There are two options available for schools, both of which focus on volunteering and explore the themes around volunteering and its benefits-
The first option is a four week interactive programme which looks at volunteering as a concept and explores what volunteering means for individuals, community and community groups.
The second is a presentation to all the TY classes on volunteering and its benefits and includes group activities.
Any County Carlow Schools that are interested in a visit from Sinéad can email her at sinead@volunteercarlow.ie and she’ll be happy to discuss the options.
Carlow Volunteer Centre Tapestry
Carlow Volunteer Centre Tapestry
Over two dozen volunteers worked to create this beautiful tapestry using latch-hooking, most of them doing it for the first time. They not only created this wonderful piece, but it also gave volunteers from a variety of backgrounds and experiences an opportunity to meet and chat.
ALONE
ALONE
ALONE (an acronym for "A Little Offering Never Ends") is a national organisation that enables older people to age at home, using support plans, providing a point of contact for access to health, social care, housing, transport and other arising needs using technology and other services and activities to improve physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.
Guiding Principles and Core Values
ALONE's principles and values underpin everything they do: how they organise ourselves, how they behave, how they make decisions, and how they engage with stakeholders including older people, volunteers, staff and partners. In particular ALONE is guided by the principles of Respect, Honesty, Collaborative Leadership, and Innovation.
• They respect the value, judgement, and autonomy of older people, acknowledging the challenges people face and working with them to find supportive solutions while also valuing early intervention to promote health & wellbeing in older people.
• They are honest in what needs to change in themselves and their sector, with an emphasis on being accountable and transparent in all they do, aiming to communicate and advocate clearly, and regularly with all stakeholders.
• A focus on working collaboratively within their sector, valuing and sharing knowledge, creating models and solutions that are transferable, scalable, and sustainable, with the goal of delivering evidence-based solutions, and measuring the impact to ensure they are effective, efficient, and operate to quality standards.
• They utilise an innovative infrastructure to lead, test and take risks to bring about change their sector, using their agility to design innovative solutions for current and emerging needs, to create and drive alignment, integration, and consolidation within our sector.
Types of Support
Coordinated Support
ALONE’s Coordinated Support empowers older people by devising personalised support plans in order to help older people address challenges and find solutions.
They offer access to their services while aiding coordination and enabling older people to access medical as well as non-medical sources of support within their community to improve physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.
The service offers help to resolve all types of difficulties, give practical support and engagement with local events and activities all our services includes providing technology solutions for older people to remain at home.
Visitation Support & Befriending Service
ALONE’s Visitation Support & Befriending Service provides regular visits to an older person. They provide friendship, practical support and links to local activities and initiatives.
Telephone Support & Befriending Service
ALONE’s Telephone Support & Befriending Service provides daily or weekly telephone contact to an older person. They provide friendship, advice and offer information on health and wellbeing, risk management and how to get involved in local activities and relevant initiatives.
Universally Designed Housing
ALONE’s Universally Designed Housing provides homes and ongoing support for older people who have housing difficulties.
They provide secure, long-term tenancies and supports which enable independent living and offer security, comfort and their own front door to older people who need it. ALONE housing is assistive technology enabled and every tenant has a Support Coordinator who provides ongoing support to coordinate any services they may require.
Technology and Community Supports
ALONE’s Assistive Technologies mission is to create an infrastructure to empower older people to use technology, enabling the user to manage their social connection, health, safety and security.
Staff and volunteers are trained to Distribute, Install and Respond to technology.
ALONES's Technology Supports are being fully integrated throughout all ALONE Services and their partnership model.
Housing with Support
ALONE is a Tier 2 Approved Housing Body with over 40 years of experience supporting older people to age at home. Over the next 3 years ALONE’s new Housing with Support Development Unit will in partnership with the HSE, Local Authorities, AHBs and Private Developers retrofit communities across Ireland with more than 320 Universally Designed adaptable homes in clusters of 30 to 60 units. Housing with Support offers a real and tangible alternative to Nursing Homes and in hospital care and represents a massive saving to the state.
How Carlow Volunteers Can Help Out
ALONE's website has a lot of information on the different ways that volunteers can get involved. Right now ALONE Carlow is looking for Telephone Support & Befriending Volunteers and National Support & Referral Line Volunteer, both of which can be done from home, as well as Visitation Support and Befriending Volunteers, who will meet with older people on a one-to-one basis. Training will be provided.
Carlow Pride 2025
Carlow Pride 2025
Many of our wonderful volunteers helped out at Carlow Pride this weekend. A great time was had by all, and thanks to all our volunteers and everyone involved in Pride.
Tullow Integration Supper 2025
Tullow Integration Supper 2025
This Year's Tullow Integration Supper was kindly hosted by the Cairdeas Centre last Saturday, and Helen & Natasha were delighted to attend.
The purpose of Tullow Multicultural Supper Club is to foster connection and understanding among diverse communities; providing a welcoming space for individuals and families to come together, share their culinary traditions and enjoy music from various cultural backgrounds.
Thank you to all involved!
Tullow Men's Shed
Tullow Men's Shed
History of the Irish Men's Sheds Association
The Irish Men’s Sheds Association was formed in 2011. However, the men’s shed movement originally started in Australia which inspired their Irish counterparts to begin their own movement.
Having first started in 2009, the men’s sheds movement had its birth in Tipperary where the first men’s shed was formed. Following the formation of the first shed in Ireland, the shed movement began to grow rapidly, with there now being over 400 sheds registered with the Irish Men’s Sheds Association and at least 12,000 men visiting a shed every week.
Tullow Men's Shed
Tullow has had a Men's Shed since 2011, providing an invaluable service to the community as a place for members to gather and spend time together without pressure or expectation. Tullow Men’s Shed is an integral part of the Tullow community. Its members are active in a number of areas of the community including Tullow Tidy Towns & Climate Action Committee. Everyone involved in a volunteer, with no expectations or demands placed on any member regarding attendance.
They are open Monday and Wednesday mornings from 10am until 12 noon, and Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 7pm to 9pm.
Activities
Tullow Men’s Shed engages in a number of activities, including carpentry and woodwork, and many of their projects are for the local community, including our own Hope sign. They also spend time out in the community, helping elderly neighbours or cutting overgrown lawns- there’s a wide variety of reasons why the members joined Tullow Men’s Shed, but they all enjoy getting together to chat, learning and sharing skills, and working side by side.
Tullow Men's Shed on KCLR
As part of National Volunteering Week, Carlow Volunteer Centre arranged for KCLR to visit some of the Volunteer Involving Organisations and speak with volunteers and organisers. Listen to Una Ni Mhaoldhomhnaigh's interviews below, and hear about the experiences of those involved.
How Carlow Volunteers Can Help Out
Tullow Men's Shed is always looking for new members, whether it's someone who wants to actively volunteer in their community, spend some time engaging with the variety of activities available or just get out of the house for a few hours a week. It's a safe space for men to come together and make some new friends, focus on improving and maintaining their well-being while maybe learning or teaching some new skills.
Currently the main building used by the Tullow Men's Shed is being refurbished and upgraded, but they are hoping to be open again fully soon
Déjà Vu Charity Shop Bagenalstown
Déjà Vu Charity Shop
Run by the Bagenalstown Family Resource Centre
Bagenalstown Family Resource Centre (BFRC) is a not-for-profit registered charity. It has been actively engaged with the communities in Bagenalstown and the surrounding areas since its establishment in 2001. They operate a charity shop, Déjà Vu, which raises essential funds to support the delivery of various services to the community, including various family and parenting support services, Stepping Stones Community Childcare Centre, a therapeutic hub, and educational and recreational programs.
The wonderful charity shop Déjà Vu, is a beloved part of the community, nestled on Main Street in Bagenalstown. When you step inside, you’ll find a delightful array of items to suit every taste and need. From one-of-a-kind treasures to everyday essentials, the shop offers a wide variety of high-quality pre-loved items. Whether you’re treating yourself or on the hunt for the perfect gift, you’re sure to discover something truly special at Déjà Vu.
Opening Hours
Monday to Friday : 9.30am -5.00pm
Saturday: 930am-4.30pm
We close for lunch 1.30-2.00pm daily
Donations
Déjà Vu are always looking for once loved clothes, furniture, books, bric-a-brac, in good condition, if you would like to donate just call into the shop or ring 059-9722028.
Address
11 Main St, Moneybeg, Muine Bheag, Co. Carlow, R21 R924
The Importance of Volunteering
In order to provide a pleasant shopping experience for our customers, the dedicated team of volunteers and CE employees work tirelessly. They ensure that the store environment is warm, welcoming, and accommodating to all visitors. Whether you need assistance with your purchase or wish to donate items, the team is here to help. When donations are received, they are carefully steamed, priced, and evaluated to ensure that only high-quality items are chosen for display and sale on the shop floor.
Déjà Vu Charity Shop on KCLR
As part of National Volunteering Week, Carlow Volunteer Centre arranged for KCLR to visit some of the Volunteer Involving Organisations and speak with volunteers and organisers. Listen to Una Ni Mhaoldhomhnaigh's interviews below, and hear about the experiences of those involved.
How Carlow Volunteers Can Help Out
As noted above, volunteers are essential to making Déjà Vu a welcoming place in the community as well as a functioning business providing quality items that customers can be certain are clean and functional. If you are interested in volunteering out with Déjà Vu, you can call into or ring our office, or apply using the link below.
An Gairdín Beo
An Gairdín Beo
An Gairdín Beo is a two-acre community garden in the centre of Carlow Town. The ethos is based on valuing diversity, sustainability, organic methods and indigenous species. The overall vision of the garden is of a space where people connect more with nature, with the growing and making of food, and with each other.
History
In the autumn of 2014 the Sisters of Mercy from St Leo's Convent contacted several groups and individuals in county Carlow, inviting them to a meeting to discuss the possibility of a community garden being created in land adjacent to the convent. There was huge interest in the overgrown two acre site and three sub committees of volunteers were formed to move the idea into action. In 2015 a Board of Directors was created and An Gairdín Beo applied to be a Company Limited by Guarantee with Charitable Status, with a 20 year lease being agreed with the Sisters.
Structure
Three groups work collaboratively to take care of the garden
The Board of Directors hold the governance responsibilities of the organisation and are responsible for protecting the ethos of the garden, for its company and legal requirements and for its financial sustainability.
The Garden Committee meet on a monthly basis to discuss, plan and organise the ongoing development activities of the garden. This is a collaborative group who bring a range of expertise and interests. It has five sub-groups: Finance and funding, Development, Growing, TLC (Therapeutic Garden) and Governance. This structure allows the work to progress in a co-ordinated but flexible way and can draw on external expertise when required.
The Volunteers are the heart of the garden activity. They include regulars such as Tús and CE Workers (3) and volunteers who are recruited through the Carlow Volunteer Centre.
Benefits
Visitors come to the garden for a wide variety of reasons:
- To enjoy the nature and the green space
- To grow food and other plants
- To take part in organised events or activities
- To reacquaint themselves with school-day spaces and places
- To meet and chat
- To contribute ideas
- To book the newly refurbished Community Building
An Gairdín Beo on KCLR
As part of National Volunteering Week, Carlow Volunteer Centre arranged for KCLR to visit some of the Volunteer Involving Organisations and speak with volunteers and organisers. Listen to Una Ni Mhaoldhomhnaigh's interviews below, and hear about the experiences of those involved.
How Carlow Volunteers Can Help Out
If you are interested in volunteering out at An Gairdín Beo, you can call into or ring our office, or apply using the link below. Wednesday is the usual day for volunteers to get some work done in the garden.
parkrun Carlow
parkrun Carlow
parkrun is a free, community event where you can walk, jog, run, volunteer or spectate. In Carlow the 5 kilometre course is at the Barrow Track, over the river from Carlow Town Park, and is a mixture of tarmac paths and trail paths which takes place every Saturday morning.
parkrun is positive, welcoming and inclusive, there is no time limit and no one finishes last. Everyone is welcome to come along. parkrun is free and you only need to register once whether walking, jogging, running, volunteering or a combination.
Benefits of parkrun
Studies have shown the benefits of parkrun, but they can easily be summed up:
- It helps your physical fitness
- It gets you outdoors, into the fresh air and helps you reconnect with nature.
- It builds a sense of community and togetherness amongst all those involved.
- It provides a nice routine and some structure, which can be helpful when everything else is hectic and unpredictable.
Park Run on KCLR
As part of National Volunteering Week, Carlow Volunteer Centre arranged for KCLR to visit some of the Volunteer Involving Organisations and speak with volunteers and organisers. Listen to Una Ni Mhaoldhomhnaigh's interviews below, and hear about the experiences of those involved.
How Carlow Volunteers Can Help Out
Volunteers are essential to helping parkrun go smoothly, and they fulfil a number of important roles- they marshal the route to help anyone that needs assistance and keep everyone track, they scan ID barcodes to track who is attending and their finishing times and they hand out finishing tokens upon completion of the run. Many of the volunteers will regularly attend parkrun as participants as well, with a rotation of those available meaning volunteering is only required every four to six weeks.
