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THERE WAS A 16 per cent increase in the number of volunteers who signed up for Volunteer Ireland and local volunteer centres in 2012 with over 15,400 people giving up their time.
The national volunteer development agency said that in total around 465,550 hours were clocked up by volunteers who gave up their time to help others and those in their local community.
Volunteer Ireland CEO Yvonne McKenna explained one of the main reasons behind the increase: “We’ve seen the experience of more people wanting to volunteer since the recession, people have more time on their hands.
“People who are unemployed are looking to do something to keep them more active. It is very positive, it does show solidarity, a commitment to helping others. There’s also a story in there about people helping themselves.”
The most popular areas of interest for volunteers were in the sectors of arts, culture and media; health and disability; and youth and children.
McKenna said that Volunteer Ireland categorises all opportunities in terms of the cause, be it children, health or sports, and then what kind of activity a person wants to do related to the cause they pick.
Volunteer of the Year 2012 Jacqueline McAuley shares her experience:
YouTube: IrelandVolunteer
She said that though volunteer numbers rose during the economic boom the figures jumped more dramatically when the recession hit but McKenna is not concerned about the impact on volunteering if the economy picks up in the coming year.
“If we emerge from the recession very quickly there would be an impact on the number of people registering to volunteer but it really is a human instinct, I wouldn’t see it as completely going away,” she said.
Two-third of those who volunteered were female while 58 per cent of newly registered volunteers had never volunteered before.
Volunteers were also predominantly young with 35 per cent aged between 16 and 25. Two-thirds of volunteers were aged under 35.
Volunteer Ireland has nearly 5,000 available volunteering roles on it national database and is encouraging people to get involved in 2013.
McKenna added: “It’s a great opportunity at the beginning of the year to make a new year’s resolution that is a positive thing to do. It can have a great effect on you but also on others.
“It can have a positive impact on the individual [who volunteers] and a positive impact on others and it’s more better for society generally.”
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Did I just read this..jasyus I did…I did need to get out more..but nobody has ever explained to me why Broccoli goes cold as soon as you cook it..I’ve never had hot Broccoli yet..
@sparky: Broccoli has a very high surface area per unit weight compared to other veg. This high surface area allows for higher rates of heat transfer to occur between the broccoli and the air. The stems of the broccoli are also a lot less dense than other vegetables too so heat transfer occurs more rapidly for that reason as well.
@sparky: always preheat your plate.
Another valuable scientific endeavour….
Thank God for religion, that’s all I can say.
Stephen Hawking must be glad he is still alive to read this. Good to know scientists have their prioritys right. Serious illnesses & research is not important if shoelaces become undone according to these scientists. This is an insult to scientists everywhere.
@Abcd: If you’d bother to actually read the article you’d see that it does have a serious side in preventing injury.
@Jack Cassady: Guess what Jack… turns out God didn’t do this either…
@Paddy Ryan: My shoelaces have not undone since i was about 6. We where taught too secure all footwear & loose clothing especially near any machinery.
@Abcd: move on to ‘é’ and the rest of the alphabet as soon as you can. Then complete your education, concentrating on logic, but not forgetting reading and comprehension. Then read this article once more. If you do not understand it differently the second time around, you are probably ineducable.
Jasus, this article had me in knots.
Double knot always works for me. Takes2 seconds longer to untie but worth it for one pair of athletic shoes with laces that untie within 10 minutes of tying the knot.
Bunny ears, bunny ears, playing by a tree. Criss-crossed the tree, trying to catch me. Bunny ears, Bunny ears, jumped into the hole, popped out the other side beautiful and bold.”
@Colleen McGovern: what you rabbitin’ on about, Willis?
“…unable to lift his foot off the gas…”
Enough of the Yankisms
Hahaha, yet you use an Americanism in your appeal to eschew a ‘Yankism’!
Enough with the Little Englander mentality. The world uses American English and in Ireland we use, increasingly, American spelling. You can color it whatever way you wish, but the English used in Ireland and in our neighboring island is moving toward the American standard.
Seriously
My guess is it’ll be a combination of vibration from the foot/shoe in normal thread action and the laces swinging. The result of both actions causing the knot to work itself loose.
@Paul Downes: My guess is its explained in the article.
Good on you journal. That’s a fine piece of copy and pasting from a piece of news that was reported on around the globe last week.
So, am I right in thinking a bunch of scientists have basically determined through scientific research that lases come undone because we/i don’t make a proper knot?? Out with lases in with velcro. I think we need a tribunal!
Ah lads, this was solved a long time ago. It’s to do with the direction in which you tie the knot. 3 min video on Ted Talks explains it.
Terry Moore: How to tie your shoes
http://go.ted.com/NQ2rKQ
I kid you knot!!!
Who the hell finds this kind of research ? The scouts ?
#Funds#
Jesus these lads are busy
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