Daniel Cronin, Foróige volunteer is one of 6 finalists in the hotly contested Calor Community Champion competition. He has received thousands and thousands of votes to get him to this phase of the competition. In 2011, Daniel set up the Ballineen Foróige Club in Co. Cork and also acts as Public Relations Officer for the West Cork Foróige District. We caught up with Daniel to find out more about his volunteering experience with Foróige.
Written by Stephanie Hannelly, Ciarán Roddy and Tomás Skelly
Carrick-on-Suir Neighbourhood Youth Project, Co.Tipperary are the winners of the ‘Foróige Youth Citizenship Awards 2013’ with their project "Glamour Gels". This project offered a series of beauty and pampering sessions to the local Day Care Centre, Active Retirement Centre and local residents to help combat elder loneliness and improve intergenerational relationships.
My name is Stephen O'Leary. I’ve been a volunteer Club Leader with Foróige for about 3 years. I started a Foróige Club in Derrinturn, Co. Kildare and we now have 25 members! We have also started a Foróige Juniors Club this year which already has 36 members. I was elected as the Kildare representative on the National Council of Foróige and I also sit on Foróige’s National Executive. Some of the Foróige volunteers, staff and young people may know me from my tattoos! These are a big talking point with the new people I met while volunteering at Foróige's Reference Panel meet up this year.
The Foróige Reference Panel aim is to bring forward ideas from our various regions across Ireland for group discussion and make recommendations to the National Council of Foróige on issues that affect young people. A number of representatives from each county are elected at Regional Conferences to attend the meetings. Throughout the year two meetings are held. This year they were held on February 22-24 and October 11-13. Jessica says:
A total of €80,006.36 has been raised by Foróige volunteers, youth workers and young people in a Tesco National Bag Pack which took place on the 13th and 14th September. All funds raised will be spent on youth activities and services in the locality in which it was raised.
