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Glossary of Community & Voluntary Terms

County Wexford Partnership have produced a 'Glossary of Terms' applicable to the Community & Voluntary Sector. This is an excellent resource for new staff or board members who may wish to understand the 'lingo' used by those in the sector.

 

Click to Download

 

 

Website Accessibility Auditing Service

 

Access Ability has recently launched it's new Website Accessibility Auditing Service. The Access Ability team are experienced accessible website auditors having recently worked with the National Disability Authority to audit public websites as a key element in the Excellence Through Accessibility Award. We now want to share our learning on accessibility of websites with other organisations that have a keen interest in supporting a diversity of people.

Having your website audited for accessibility will help establish how well your website performs in terms of access and ease of use by a wide range of potential users, including people with mobility and sensory impairments.

Our audit will produce an easy to use report, outlining accessible options, solutions and recommendations to ensure you are giving your community every opportunity to benefit from an accessible website.

 

For further information, or if you have any questions, please contact Hugh Cassidy at the phone numbers below.

Hugh Cassidy, Access Ability, Rehab Enterprises, Roslyn Park, Sandymount, Dublin 4

Tel. 00 353 1 2057 234 Mob. 00 353 (0)87 997 9275

www.accessability.ie or www.rehab.ie

 

Publications for Voluntary Management Committees

 

Published by OPEN – Representing Lone Parent Groups in Ireland

 

The GROUP KIT is an educational development tool for new and existing lone parent groups to use – everything you need to know about setting up and managing your group. Cost euro 30 incl p&p

 

The SMART KIT brings together a wide range of information to make the job of voluntary management committees and boards a little easier and to assist all groups in

development and implementation of best practice in relation to organisational policies, procedures, systems and structures. Cost euro 50 incl p&p

 

Available for purchase now!

To place your order or for further information email: enquiries@oneparent.ie or telephone 01 814 8860

 

Detailed information available on our website www.oneparent.ie

 

Managing Volunteers: A Good Practice Guide

The Guide provides information on good practice for the wide range of voluntary and statutory organisations that involve volunteers in their work. The materials included in the guide can be adapted by individual organisations to help them develop volunteer policies suited to their needs.

The content includes guidelines on recruitment, training and support of volunteers. provides information on good practice for the wide range of voluntary and statutory agencies in Ireland.

 

Published by The Citizens Information Board (July 2008).

 

Preface
A survey on volunteering in Ireland, published in 19991, reveals that thirty three per cent of the adult population volunteer, in a range of areas and with time commitments ranging from a couple of hours to over fifty hours each month.

A great number of people still find out about volunteering opportunities by word of mouth (e.g. family and friends) while over half of the people who volunteer do so because they are asked. People volunteer for a huge variety of reasons.

The list below includes some of the many reasons volunteers have given for becoming involved:
- to share skills
- to get to know a new community
- to help others
- to earn academic credit
- to be with people different to themselves
- to keep busy
- to feel needed
- to explore a career
- for religious reasons
- for fun
- to donate professional skills
- to be part of a team
- to gain access to services for themselves
- because of personal experience
- to be challenged
- to keep skills alive.

 

Increasingly, the value of volunteering is recognised as an important asset in Irish society: over ninety per cent of people believe that voluntary work encourages people to become actively involved in the community and over seventy per cent believe that the nature of the service offered by volunteers could never be provided by paid professionals.

 

However, even with the growing recognition of the value of volunteering in our society, volunteers are still frequently not fully supported by the organisations they are involved with.

 

Managing Volunteers: a good practice guide has been produced as a support for organisations who are committed to providing effective management structures for their volunteers.

 

www.citizensinformationboard.ie/publications/voluntary_sector/managing_volunteers

 

The Bar Council's Voluntary Assistance Scheme

"VOLUNTARY ASSISTANCE" is a scheme operated by the Bar Council whereby barristers provide services directly to non Government organisations working with members of the community who cannot afford legal services.

All areas of the law are covered by this scheme but the principal areas include housing issues, landlord and tenant issues, prison related issues, social welfare appeals and debt related issues. Barristers with expertise in each of these areas of the law are available to provide assistance to organisations encountering difficulties in these areas.

The scheme makes available every service which barristers ordinarily provide to clients.

Examples include:
Advising whether there may be a legal angle to a particular problem Assisting with the drafting of initial letters
Advising whether a claim might be brought to Court and what steps need to be taken to advance such a claim.
Drafting the documents necessary for bringing a claim to Court.
Representing a client in Court.
Providing training in advocacy to organisations that may need to represent clients themselves.
Providing advice in relation to law reform.
For some forms of assistance barristers will be required to be instructed by solicitors.
If such a requirement arises, a number of solicitors have indicated a willingness to act.

Who may avail of Voluntary Assistance?
The VOLUNTARY ASSISTANCE scheme is available to all non Government organisations working with people who have legal problems and who cannot afford the services of lawyers.

The scheme does not include family law because this is the one area of law which is extensively covered by the Government operated Legal Aid scheme.

Jeanne McDonagh is the Administrator of the VOLUNTARY ASSISTANCE scheme. Jeanne is Secretary to the External Relations Committee, which runs this scheme on behalf of the Bar Council.

Jeanne can be contacted at jmcdonagh@lawlibrary.ie Tel: (01) 8175014. Website: www.barcouncil.ie

 

Information Booklets

 

West Cork Community Partnership

 

West Cork Community Partnership:

Have produced a series of information booklets for use by Community Groups, covering a range of issues as outlined below. The booklets are designed to be simple and user friendly.

Click to access booklets

AGM & Constitution
Fundraising
Member of a Committee
Planning a Project
Problem Solving
Recruiting & Keeping Volunteers
Role of a Chairperson
Role of a Secretary
Role of a Treasurer
Role of Public Relations Officer

PRINTING - Please feel free to print and use as many booklets as you require... they must be printed double sided in order to be collated correctly and the printer paper setting needs to be set at landscape. Staple in the middle.

 

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