National Volunteering Week 2025

National Volunteering Week is a weeklong celebration of volunteering, from the 19th to the 25th of May 2025. Carlow Volunteer Centre, in concert with Volunteer Ireland and the network of Volunteer Centres, uses National Volunteering Week to amplify the incredible stories of volunteering in our communities through social and traditional media. It’s a week full of events, both online and in person, with everything from competitions to coffee mornings to mindfulness seminars on offer.

#TellAFriendCarlow

Volunteering is a great way to give back to a community, and its important to recognise those who do it and their impact. Often people are involved in volunteering in their community and don’t even realise it, because they aren’t doing so through a more official approach like the Volunteer Centres. The #TellAFriendCarlow campaign aims to highlight the work of school-age volunteers by reminding them that even common acts like helping a neighbour or running a club is volunteering. By getting them to make Tik Tok videos about how they volunteer, and letting their friends know that it can be a simpler and smaller scale than many people think of, we aim to increase awareness of volunteering amongst teenagers. We also offer a voucher for both the volunteers and their school to encourage engagement and help the word about the competition to spread.

The Power of Volunteering

In concert with the Carlow Volunteer Centre, starting from National Volunteering Week and continuing on through June, local radio station KCLR is visiting Volunteer Involving Organisations to speak with both organisers and volunteers, to raise awareness of Volunteering in the local area and also give listeners a better idea of what is actually involved and the experiences of the volunteers. We will also be running profiles of these Organisations on our website, so listeners can follow up and get some more specific details on those groups and learn how to volunteer with them.

Volunteer Coffee Morning

An opportunity for our generous volunteers to call into our office for some tea and biscuits, and have a chat with our staff and each other about volunteering, and life in general.

Mindfulness Seminar

Hosted by Mary Fleming, our Mindfulness Seminar is an opportunity for volunteers to learn how to remain present in the moment, helping them focus, reducing stress and allowing for more calmness in their life.

Coffee Afternoon with Volunteer Involving Organisations

An opportunity for the various organisations we help out to provide us feedback on what is working, what could be improved and where they need particular assistance. It will also allow them to exchanged lessons they’ve learned with each other, and come up with potential solutions to common problems they may face.

Visit to Tullow Men’s Shed

The Men’s Shed in Tullow is right at the heart of the community, giving men of the town a place to gather together and work on some volunteer projects while also improving their own mental well-being by spending time with new friends. We are going to take this opportunity to thank them in person, and bring along some biscuits and treats to celebrate their soon-to-be-reopened building refurbishment.