Is the art of volunteering still alive and well in Waterford?

2014 Run for Life.

On Thursday last (30^th July 2015) I was very fortunate to be involved in the launch of the Solas Centre 2015 Run and Walk for Life. Yes, there will this year be two events in one this year! Both events will take place simultaneously on Sunday 11^th October with a sharp 12:30 start time.

There will be the now traditional 10-mile run and for the first time ever there will also be a 5-mile walk. The 5-mile walk has been introduced to bring the event back to the people, if you like, and this much easier option will encourage many, many more people to get involved.

More importantly the 5-mile Walk for Life will allow many clients, their families and their friends of the Solas Centre to take part. Both routes have been designed to get all the participants back into the People’s Park, the finishing line, at roughly the same time. This will ensure that there are more people than ever enjoying the post event activities in the Fun for Life.

During the launch event there were a number of speakers and without doubt the short speech from Fiachra Ó Céilleachair summed up what the Solas Centre and its most important fundraising event the Run for Life is all about. You could have heard a pin drop as Fiachra retold his family’s story of their fight against cancer and the important role the Solas Centre played and is still playing in his family’s life. Fiachra was delighted to let the gathered audience know that he and his three children would be completing the Walk for Life in the memory of Siobhan.

2014 Run for Life.

Fundraising for bricks and mortar are of course much easier than the continuing fundraising needed for additional services required for a project such as the Solas Centre and without a dedicated band of enthusiastic and committed volunteers it would be impossible to continually set a higher and higher bar and raise increased funds to allow expansion of services. Without a committed volunteer force then it would have been impossible to service the 200 plus clients who have visited the Solas Centre it the first 6 months of 2015.

During the Run and Walk for Life dozens of volunteers will be needed to help marshal the route, marshal crossing pints and of course service water and food stations. Without these volunteers the events simply would not happen and our volunteers require the acknowledgement of us, the public, as without their tireless work ethic the continuation of Solas Centre services would not be possible.

Another organisation I am involved with, on a voluntary basis, is of course the Waterford Business Group, now in its third year of operation. In 2015 at the first AGM we increased the committee numbers from 12 to 14 and we now see 14 good men and women giving up their time and their family time for the betterment of Waterford City and the people of Waterford.

As an example of the tireless work this committee are carrying out on our behalf. You only have to look up at the buildings around the City Centre to see the riot of colour that is part of the annual City in Bloom. This operation takes months of planning and coordination and will continue possibly right up to early October, weather permitting.

City in Bloom 2015.

In addition to the wonderful floral displays around the City Centre you cannot have helped but notice the live musical acts that are playing in John Roberts Square every Friday and Saturday afternoon. These FREE musical sessions are without a doubt bringing much needed increased footfall back into the City Centre.

The Waterford Business Group also does so much more unseen work. Whether that again is giving up free time to attend meetings, representing members on strategic policy committees, lobbying on behalf of members, meeting political representatives to lobbying for increased funding for the City.....and I could literally write and fill a whole years worth of blogs with the unobserved and unnoticed work this tireless group of 14 carry out on our behalf.

I am also involved in the 1848 Tricolour Celebration committee who voluntarily give up a huge amount of their time and their family time to deliver a feast of events, every March, that celebrate Thomas Francis Meagher's "creation" of the Irish tricolour flag which was of course raised for the first time at the Wolf Tone Confederate Club on 33 The Mall, in March 1848. As a footnote the Committee also celebrated TFM's birth date on Monday 3rd August with a new Muldoon cocktail called a "Montana" - most enjoyable and refreshing! 

On Friday, Saturday and Sunday last you could not but help notice the plethora of volunteers helping out with the Spraoi Festival. On Sunday evening in particular I witnessed firsthand young volunteers soaked to the skin, and no doubt hypothermic, on Barronstrand Street doing their bit for Waterford.

From my first hand knowledge I can honestly say that the voluntary organisations I am involved with will always give far more than they are perhaps credited for. And the people who volunteer for these organisations are the unseen and unobserved heroes of many an event and festival that takes place here in our wonderful City. I suppose that key thing that we all must do is dig a wee bit deeper to see that what we are supporting “does exactly what is says on the tin”.

Summer in the City 2015.

There are some organisations, events and no doubt festivals that rely on a huge voluntary support network and yet there are some “paid people” involved in such organisations, events and festivals. And yes some of these people in particular certainly give the impression that they are doing their bit for Waterford but not on the voluntary basis they many well promote. It is up to us, as supporters, to decide who we should support and who we should not support. I suppose the trick is that we need to do a wee bit of homework to ensure that we are supporting those that actually deserve our full support. The question of remuneration does of course play its part in this process and like some very recent high profile press coverage of charity executive salaries we need on a local level to make sure we are supporting "the cause" and not the administration costs of an organisation, event or festival.  

So, the question I posed at the start does on the surface appear to be a “YES”. But you must always look a wee bit closer to see the real value of volunteers and the groups that they support.