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Monaghan Volunteer Centre and Monaghan Community Forum are pleased to launch Co. Monaghan’s very first Active Citizenship Week which will take place from 27^th September to the 1^st October 2010. The aim of the week is to promote and celebrate the wonderful work that is being carried out in the community and voluntary sector in County Monaghan and to encourage those who are not already involved to become active citizens!  Audrey Wilson (Monaghan Volunteer Centre) comments ‘Active Citizenship Week provides all of us with an excellent opportunity to find out how we can become more active in our communities. Potential opportunities range from doing a small job for a neighbour to registering as a volunteer on www.volunteermonaghan.ie’ Active Citizenship Week is a county wide initiative. For a full programme of activities please see our calendar below or log on to www.volunteermonaghan.ie

Get involved on the National Day of Volunteering

The aim of the National Day of Volunteering (formally known as Give It a Swirl Day) is to encourage everyone in Ireland to give volunteering a go, to show that – even if it’s only for a minute, an hour, a day – volunteering can make a big difference and be a lot of fun. This year, the National Day of Volunteering will take place on Friday, 1st of October, 2010.

The National Day of Volunteering belongs to everyone, no matter who you are or where you live. Whether it’s painting a community hall, giving blood, coaching a local sports team, committing a random act of volunteering or simply thanking someone you know who volunteers, there’s something for everyone to do and we can all be involved!

Why get involved? Because volunteering benefits everyone and makes us stronger. Volunteering has a proven positive impact on volunteers, those they volunteer with and society in general. Together we can build stronger neighbourhoods, stronger communities, a stronger Ireland.

If you are interested in getting involved why not check out our website www.volunteermonaghan.ie

Say ‘Thank You’ to a Volunteer on Friday 1^st October, the National Day of Volunteering.

Imagine how different Ireland would be if there were no volunteers: no befrienders visiting elderly people living alone or bringing them meals on wheels, no stewarts at matches or concerts, no summer festivals for which Ireland is so well known. Scary thought, wouldn’t you say? Even if we don’t feel directly affected by the work of volunteers, in fact, their decision to give time for others benefits us all and makes Ireland a better place to be. And there’s an awful lot of volunteers in Ireland! The 2006 census estimated that 1 in 6 of us volunteer regularly. That’s a lot of volunteering!

 Why not take the opportunity of the National Day of Volunteering to say a simple thank you to someone you know who volunteers? We’ll add them to our Volunteer Page of Appreciation  and proudly scroll it on our website. If you’d prefer not to give us their full name or just let us know the organisation they volunteer with, that’s fine too. To thank your volunteers just fill in our easy to use Volunteer Appreciation Form on www.volunteermonaghan.ie