Joy -volunteer musician
Joy is a 24 year old musician from Navan. She volunteers her time and skills to organise an annual charity concert in Navan as well as volunteering with a local youth group.
‘I worked as a fundraiser years ago a few years ago firstly in Dublin then all around Ireland, helping to raise money for lots of different charities like Barnardos, Focus Ireland, Oxfam and Unicef. It was during this time that I started developing an interest in volunteering. I knew that if I was going to do something it would be through music. I organised a small concert call Oxjam to raise money for Oxfam Ireland with the help of other musician friends. It’s basically one night a year where we get about 5 or 6 bands together and they all play about a half hour set and have a big raffle with prizes. It’s a real community thing as well – everyone loves getting involved to raise a few quid. We’ve been running it for 3 years now and have intention of stopping any time soon. It’s got to the stage where everyone is expecting it now.’
‘Fundraising can obviously be tough with the recession and the place seems to be saturated with organisations trying to raise vital funds but it’s not as hard as it might seem. Although people may grumble, I do find that they are really supportive if they know it’s for a good cause.’
‘Volunteering has opened doors for me. I also volunteer with Meath Youth Federation and since that I’ve realised that this is something that I’d like to do as a career. I’ve now decided to do a Degree in Youthwork and Community Development and am hoping to start that next year. If I hadn’t started doing volunteering there’s no way I would have been able to explore these things and realise that this is what I want to do.’
‘I would encourage everyone to get involved with volunteering – there are so many different types of things you could do. There is something for everyone and it will definitely give you a good feeling instead of sitting at home watching Eastenders. It’s doesn’t take that much to do it and I would recommend that everyone try it at least once – just spare an hour a week!’