NYCI calls on people in south Dublin to volunteer, following 64% drop in volunteers during pandemic

Blessing Dada (pictured above) from Tallaght, has told of the emotional fulfillment she has gained through volunteering with local groups in Dublin.

Her story about the benefits of volunteering is part of a new National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI) campaign, urging people in Dublin, and across the country, to consider volunteering with their local youth work groups, following a sharp decline in volunteer numbers as a result of the pandemic.

Blessing, who is age 22, is a volunteer with youth service organisations, including the youth information website SpunOut currently.

Speaking about her experience of volunteering, Blessing noted the emotional rewards she has gained from volunteering: “I was volunteering with a youth service in Baldoyle, with a group of young girls who were in the nearby direct provision centre.

“It was their first time coming across a black Irish person, and they were really intrigued by my accent and my mannerisms and everything.

“It was really emotional to engage with them: even though we came from different places, the connection of blackness was there.

“One of the girls, she was only nine years old, she looked at me and said, ‘What do you DO?! What are you doing in college?”

“I told her I was studying youth work and wanted to bring about change for young people. And she was so happy to see that there was someone who looked like her who was doing this work.

In that moment, it was really moving for me – feeling that my presence had helped to motivate her in her own journey of education.”

The NYCI is urging people across the country to consider volunteering with their local youth work groups. The call comes in response to research figures published in its recent report ‘Youth Work and Covid-19’ which found youth work volunteer numbers across the country dropped by 64%, as a result of the pandemic, due to public health restrictions, personal health concerns and people not being in a position to work online.

The national volunteer recruitment campaign ‘Community is You’ aims to inspire and encourage people to get involved with local youth work groups, and ultimately restore youth work volunteer numbers to pre-pandemic levels.

Commenting on the campaign, Mary Cunningham, CEO of NYCI, said: “Local youth groups play an essential role in communities across Ireland, and volunteers are the backbone of these services. As a result of the pandemic, we’ve had a major decline in volunteer numbers in youth groups in every corner of the country and we would love to see these volunteers return, but equally we would love new people to get involved.

“We know many people have seen the true value of their local community over the past two years and perhaps they may be thinking about giving back and becoming a volunteer. It’s clear from the stories of volunteers the great sense of purpose that volunteering offers and we hope this campaign inspires people to take action and get involved so that we can rebuild our safe and secure spaces for young people.”

NYCI is calling for people (aged 18 years and older) with all kinds of experience and skills to sign up and get involved with volunteering for their local youth groups. To find out more about youth work volunteering and opportunities, visit the webpage at www.youth.ie/community-is-you.