Summer Courses with Bray Adult Learning Centre
Summer Courses May - June 2013
Bray Adult Learning Centre
Return to Learning
Improve your basic skills and take the first step back into learning in a group
Mornings or evenings (Mondays and/or Tuesdays)
7th May – 11th June
Internet and Email
Suitable for beginners or improvers
Tuesday evenings 14th May – 11th June
Spell Well
Spelling tips and hints for beginners and improvers
Tuesdays 9.30am-12.00pm
14th May – 11th June
Creative writing for beginners
Introduction to writing fiction for beginners –
work on your writing style and developing characters
Wednesdays 9.15-11.15
15th May – 12th June
For more information please contact
Niamh or Joan 01 2761350
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Win a library worth €1500.00
Win a Library Worth €1,500 for Your Community or Voluntary Organisation
Six in ten Irish people have a passion for books and reading and Bord Gáis Energy Book Club want to share this passion by donating libraries to community and voluntary organisations nationwide that would benefit from the addition of a library of books of their choice to support their work. During the course of this on-going programme, Bord Gáis Energy Book Club, Ireland’s largest book club, will donate a library to a deserving cause three times a year, ensuring we can continue to share the joy and benefit of reading with the communities they work within. Throughout the year, individuals and organisation can nominate themselves or a cause they really believe in to receive a donation of a library using the nomination form available on the Bord Gáis Energy Book Club website . The library package will consist of: €1,000 worth of books, €500 worth of shelving and furniture, expert literary advice on purchasing books and local support. Visit the Bord Gáis Energy Book Club website for more.
CASC Community Admin Support Services
CASC - the community administrative support service - based in Bray offers design and printing of posters, newsletters, business cards, lamination and much more. All sercvices are offered to voluntray and community groups at low, low prices. for further information contact CASC on 01 211 6806, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or take a look at their web-site www.casc.ie
The Coffee Dock, Bray
The Coffee Dock in the Little Flower Hall is looking for people to help out on Sunday after 10.30 am mass. This is the family mass so the coffee dock is visited by families with children of all ages. A rota is in operation so you will only be needed about once every 6 weeks. Duties include making tea and coffee, serving these and soft drinks and cleaning up afterwards. For further information contact Yvonne on 01 2022244.
Fas e-learning at the Libraries
FÁS, in partnership with the Library Council of Ireland, have devised a programme to make learning available to clients through their local library. The aim of the programme is to up skill local persons in Digital Competence and IT Skills. There are no entry requirements, no allowances paid and no charge to participants.
The programme is suitable for persons with little or no IT skills, persons with some IT skills that wish to improve and persons with IT skills that wish to learn online on their own (with access to facilitation) at the library. This is a continuous intake programme.
A facilitator will be present at the library to assist participants familiarise themselves in using a computer and to support their progress through a suite of online courseware hosted on a dedicated website. The learner can choose from a list of available courses to continue the learning process. Learners will have access to the facilitator, while working on their own initiative.
FÁS Training Centres with Library Council of Ireland support are currently selecting libraries to participate. Contact Adele Barrett (071 9159509) or Therese O’Connor (01 8398150) for further information or to see if the programme is running in your area.
Wicklow Volunteer Centre gets Quality Award
Wicklow Volunteer Centre is delighted to announce that we have obtained the Volunteer Ireland Quality Award. This is in recognition of the quality service we offer to both volunteers and volunteer-involving-organisations. According to Leah Kinsella, the manager of the Wicklow centre "we are delighted with this award, but aware that we need to keep improving our services as volunteering is so important to our local communities. We welcome any suggestions our clients may have for improving our services and are delighted when groups and individuals give us feedback".
Volunteering and happiness
It's official - Volunteering makes you happy!
98% in survey say volunteering makes them happier
People across the country were today rallied to get involved in Ireland’s first National Volunteering Week which takes place from May 14 – 20
Last year more than 10,000 volunteers participated in hundreds of charity and community projects across the country on National Day of Volunteering.
Following five successful National Day of Volunteering campaigns, this year the campaign is being expanded to seven days, making it easier for volunteers, organisations and companies to get involved.
Research carried out by Volunteer Ireland in advance of National Volunteering Week (NVW) has found that being involved in volunteering makes people happier. The research was carried out on more than 500 active volunteers across the country with 98% responding that ‘volunteering makes them a happier person’.
The research also found that the most common reasons for people to volunteer were to:
- Help people (65%)
- Contribute to the community (60%)
- Add experience to CV (37%)
- Keep active (33%)
- Occupy spare time (30%)
- Develop contacts (24%) and
- Find work through volunteering (24%).
National Volunteering Week is being co-ordinated nationally by Volunteer Ireland and delivered locally through the 22 local Volunteer Centres across the country. The flagship project for NVW 2012 is a National Inland Waterways Clean up.
Volunteer Ireland CEO Dr. Yvonne McKenna said that the survey was reflective of a growing particpiation in volunteering in Ireland and she highlighted evidence in the survey of differing reasons for volunteering among older and younger people.
“58% of people said they beileved there is a difference between why younger people (aged 14-50) and older people (50+) volunteer. Also among those whose employment had been negativly effected by the recession 68% said it made them more likely to volunteer.
“The responses do show a pattern that older people were most likely to volunter in order to stay active and socially engaged, while there was a greater emphasis among younger people on volunteering as a way of improving employment propects in the current recessionary climate.”
Dr. McKenna encouraged as many people as possible get involved in National Volunteering Week: “If it’s only for a minute, an hour, or a day – volunteering is a wonderful way to connect with your community, meet new people and make a real difference.”
To get involved in NVW 2012 go to www.volunteer.ie where you can:
1. Look up projects in your area and register to get involved.
2. Develop your own project and register it.
3. Participate in the flagship project – A National Inland Waterways Clean Up.
4. Check out the list of 30 ‘Random Acts of Volunteering’ examples to get some inspiration.
Wicklow Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Wicklow SPCA
Sharpeshill Animal Sanctuary,
Ballygannon Mór, Rathdrum, Co. Wicklow
0404 44783
Dear Everyone,
We at the Wicklow SPCA are looking into an overall plan to upgrade all the facilities here at the Sanctuary for all the animals in our care. It has come to our attention that first on the list to upgrade is the cattery. It is with this in mind we are going to extend the cattery and upgrade the current building. This is spurred on by the kind and generous donation of animal isolation units donated by UCD, which will much improve our isolation. We are also going to have a cat and kitten unit.
So it is with these improvements in mind that we are now in earnest fundraising to complete the build by the end of this year. We are asking people to “Sponsor a Brick” at €5. Again we are asking and depending on people’s generosity and kind heartedness to continue to strive to provide the best facilities and care for the cats in our care. It is only through your kind donations that we can achieve this.
For further information please see www.wicklowspca.org
OECD reports Irish as second highest country in OECD for Citizens Volunteering
A survey from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reveals that the amount of time spent by Irish people volunteering outside the home is the third equal highest in the OECD. Ireland is the second highest country in the OECD for citizens volunteering time, giving money and helping a stranger.
The surveys says that on average 60% have done so in the previous month, compared to an OECD average of 39%. The survey - carried out in 29 industrialised countries - also reveals that Mexicans work the longest days and Belgians the shortest. Mexicans toil for 10 hours a day on average in paid and unpaid work, such as household chores. Belgians work just seven hours, which is one less than the average in most other OECD countries.
The study is based on surveys of people between the ages of 15 and 64 in 26 OECD member countries plus China, India and South Africa. The surveys required people to say what they were doing every five minutes or so over the course of the day.
The poll covered people in retirement or on days off from work, meaning the averages are skewed by countries with more generous holiday allowances or earlier retirement ages.
Key findings Ireland (Adobe pdf)
Key findings unpaid work (Adobe pdf)
Download the full report (Adobe pdf)
Anti Poverty Mag 134 - Volunteering: a tool for inclusion
In 2011, the spotlight shifts from Poverty and Social Exclusion to Volunteering, with the baton passed from the EU Year for combating poverty and social exclusion to the European Year of Volunteering 2011. What is the link? How can we build on the strengths of volunteering yet guard against the risks of abuse in the context of current attacks on Europe's welfare State and social model?
Download the magazine here (adobe pdf)
Radio Interview with Ian O'Flynn on Newstalk
Check out the interview with Ian O'Flynn, Manager of Westmeath Volunteer Centre on the Moncrief Show on Newstalk 106 - 108fm where Ian talks about volunteering and volunteer centres.
