TOP architect Dermot Bannon celebrated with service-users at St Michael’s House HQ in Ballymun recently when he became the charity’s 3,000th volunteer.
St Michael’s House is one of Ireland’s largest providers of community based services for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
Its Time to Volunteer corporate programme has been running since 2012 and Bannon became its 3,000th participant on April 4 last.
The programme provides employers with an opportunity to release staff from their normal duties for one day, to undertake a worthwhile project in one of the organisation’s 170 centres located across Ireland.
The Time to Volunteer programme operates for six months of the year and volunteers from companies such as KPMG, UPS, Woodies, LinkedIn, Starbucks, Vodafone and Bank of Ireland have spent 12,600 hours on the programme, undertaking tasks ranging from providing expert advice to more practical activities such as painting, gardening and building walls.
For the past six years, St Michael’s House has benefited from €88,034 in donations through the 12,600 man hours, saving more than €600,000 and allowing the charity to revamp over 90 gardens benefiting over 1,751 children and adults who use the service.
Bannon said he was delighted to be the 3,000th volunteer and support the St Michael’s House Time to Volunteer programme.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to have some hands-on involvement and make a small difference to a very worthwhile cause,” he added.
“Volunteering is important for numerous reasons, benefiting both the community and the volunteer themselves. When someone donates a handful of their time, the difference made is tremendous and it shapes a community for the better, while the experience improves the person who donated the time.
“I wish St Michael’s House all the best for the future.’’
CEO at St Michael’s House, Anna Shakespeare, said she was both delighted and amazed at the amount of work completed by the volunteers over the last six years.
“Volunteer hours make such a difference,” she added. “We are very grateful for our partnership with KPMG and their continued sponsorship to this programme.
“The aim of the programme is for corporate staff to complete a worthwhile project and to become more knowledgeable about how people with an intellectual disability can positively contribute to society.
“This aligns with our strategic plan by building alliances in the community to improve our services for all. A sincere thanks to Dermot Bannon for being our 3000th volunteer and indeed to our all the sponsors and supporters for taking part in St Michael’s House Time to Volunteer Corporate Volunteering Program over the past six years.”