Leah Kinsella, Manager

Leah Kinsella is the Manager of the County Wicklow Volunteer Centre, she joined in August 2004. Leah's first memory of volunteering is of being dressed in black plastic bag to highlight the problem of litter - she was 5 year of age. Leah is still involved with her local Tidy Towns group, helps out in a local youth club and is involved in a number of committees including the County Wicklow Community Forum.

Leah has a BA in English amd History and a MSc in Sustainable Development. She has completed a diploma in Quality Management and is a qualified librarian. Leah has worked in the public and private sections and loves her current job.

Yvonne Ryan, Placement Officer

Yvonne joined the CWVC team as Placement Officer in 2005 having previously worked with Canon Ireland as Personnel Manager where she gained vast experience of HR issues, conducting interviews, and best practice in personnel administration. Yvonne has brought this experience to bear on her role within CWVC and has helped to grow the centre into a high quality volunteering service.

As well as being training to deliver the Volunteer Ireland Volunteer Management Training course, Yvonne has also trained in equality, health and safety, child protection and quality auditing.

Yvonne is an active participant in a number of local groups and has a special interest in Irish Heart Children.

Fiona Downes, Centre Manager Wicklow town and Arklow 

Fiona joined the team in 2006 as manager of our centres in Wicklow town and Arklow. Fiona's background is in community development and she has worked in Ireland, Haiti and the Sudan. In Ireland, Fiona worked with Tallaght Youth Services, Irish Wildlife Trust and the County Wicklow VEC Adult Guidance Service.  Fiona supports both organisations and individuals in her local areas and conducts outreaches across the county.

Along with Yvonne, Fiona delivers a comprehensive Volunteer Management Training Course developed by Volunteer Ireland. Fiona can be contacted on 0404 25430 or 0402 91519  
 

County Wicklow Volunteer Centre Board of Directors

Elizabeth Murphy, Volunteer Manager, Bray Coffee Dock, Board Member Easi-Access Travel Club.

Paul McCleary, Volunteer CIC

Michael Noble, Mental Health Ireland

Brain Schweppe, Volunteer Board Member, Older Peoples Network

Ann Shelley-Lacey, Wicklow Travellers Group

Jenny Darcy, Bray Area Partnership,  Community Development

Ann Byrne, County Wicklow Partnership, Manager

Volunteer Centre Interns & Volunteers

We involve volunteers in a range of roles from supporting our day-to-day operations to helping out with special events. We would like to thank

Adam Harris, Brian Schweppe, Enda McCormack and Miriam Gorman for their fantastic contribution to our recent exhibition in Greystones.

If you would like to help with upcoming exhibition in Baltinglass and Bray, please give us a call on 01 2040885 or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

County Wicklow

County Wicklow, the garden county, is one of Ireland's most beautiful counties with landscape that varies from long sandy beaches on the coast to rugged mountain valleys and large rolling pastoral areas. Adjacent to Dublin, Ireland's capital city, County Wicklow is divided into both urban and rural areas.

According to the census of population 2011, Wicklow has a had a population of 136, 448. It was one of the most rapidly growing counties in Ireland and as part of the Greater Dublin Area has been subject to many of the pressures emanating from the expansion of the capital city. According to the CSO (2005) less than half of the people residing in the county are from the county so Wicklow is now ethnically and culturally diverse, enhanced by the wealth of experiences the new communities have brought to the County. The largest towns in Wicklow are Bray (32,000), Greystones (14,500) Arklow (12,00)and Wicklow town (10,000). Growth has been marked in many other areas with Kilcoole growing from 6,00 to 9,000 people since 2006. County Wicklow supports a large rural population of approximately 33,000 many of whom experience social isolation, lack of services and low levels of participation in local development.

Wicklow supports a huge variety of voluntary and community groups from Wicklow Mountain Rescue to local tidy towns groups, from Meals and Wheels to  youth clubs and from GAA clubs tp Special Olympics clubs. With over 500 clubs operating across the county, we are always looking for volunteers to give them a  hand, across a range of great opportunities, including:

Animals, Arts, Culture and Media, Befriending, Campaigning and Awareness Raising, Driving, Environmental Causes, Helath, Management, Mentoring, Office, Practical Work, Sports and Recreation and many more.