The search is on for Volunteer of the Year

DUBLINERS are being urged to nominate local heroes for this year’s Volunteer Ireland Awards.

Visit www.volunteer.ie and nominate ordinary people who do extraordinary things in their communities.

The Volunteer Ireland Awards are the major annual initiative to celebrate volunteering in Ireland. They are coordinated by Volunteer Ireland and supported by Panadol. The awards invite entries from both the North and South of Ireland.

Volunteer Ireland chief executive Yvonne McKenna said the awards celebrate and recognise the thousands of remarkable people across the island of Ireland who selflessly give their time and talent to benefit others and their communities.

“The search for the 2013 Volunteer of the Year is now on,

? stated Ms McKenna.

“We’re calling on the Irish public to help us shine a light on this country’s remarkable volunteers.

“Whether it’s helping a local sports club, raising funds for a charity or helping a local community group, we want to celebrate the selfless volunteers who regularly give their time to help to make Ireland a better place. Nominate a volunteer you know and share their inspiring story with us.

?

Panadol is lead sponsor of the Volunteer Ireland Awards for the fourth consecutive year and encourages everybody to take the opportunity to showcase Ireland’s outstanding volunteers.

Nominations can be received up to October 25. Category winners and an overall winner will be announced at a special awards ceremony on December 5.

There are 10 different award categories including sports, arts, youth, environment, community, disability, education, social work, awareness raising and international development.

So far this year, over 10,000 volunteers have registered through volunteer.ie and local Volunteer Centres. These volunteers have clocked up over 320,000 hours of voluntary work which has an equivalent value of over

?¬7 million.

Also, as part of this year’s Volunteer Ireland Awards campaign, one of the shortlisted 30 nominees will receive the Charity Hero Award, a lifetime achievement award honouring a volunteer who has – over the course of their life – made an extraordinary contribution to a good cause.

The Charity Hero Award is a unique collaboration between the Volunteer Ireland Awards and the Better Together Campaign. It will be presented at the Better Together Awards ceremony in Dublin on December 12.