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March, 2011
Welcome
Welcome to the March issue of the Volunteering and Fundraising Newsletter full of information on volunteering and fundraising. For any further information on Dublin Simon Community you can log on at www.dubsimon.ie.
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Experiences of a Full-Time Volunteer
Stacey King is a full time volunteer in Dublin Simon’s long-term supported housing in North Circular Road. With Dublin Simon since last September, Stacey talks here about her experience as a volunteer, her background and why she is dedicating a year of her life to Dublin Simon Community…
My name is Stacey King and I am currently a full time volunteer in North Circular Road, long- term supported housing. My placement commenced in September 2010 and I will stay here until August. I am currently studying a degree in social psychology with the University of Ulster, Coleraine. My degree offers an optional placement year and when applying I had always planned on doing a work placement. Originally I had planned on working with convicted young offenders as that is where my interest in my career path was. I feel very lucky to have obtained a place with Dublin Simon as my experiences here so far have been beyond my expectations.
My first day at work is very difficult to describe. I wasn’t sure if I was excited to start somewhere new or if I was nervous about not knowing what I was getting involved in. When I saw the project at first I was shocked. I suppose I wasn’t sure what I was expecting my workplace to look like. When I met the residents on my arrival I began to feel more nervous as the few I had met had speech impediments. My initial reaction was there are 23 residents, how am I going to understand what they say to me and how am I ever going to remember each of their names and what room they stayed in?
I wasn’t very long before I settled and felt more at ease. The staff team and my manager were fantastic and were a much needed source of comfort and support as they were always on hand to answer all of my quizative questions.
Only two months into my placement reflecting back I now see that anyone can be homeless for any number of reasons. People who are homeless are individual human beings simply with different needs than I have. There is lots of room for services to be provided to help. I had stereotyped people based on this “label” society has created, in fact homelessness is not a label as I have first hand experience of, rather homelessness is a phase that someone goes through. Some people can overcome homelessness with the help of different services others need more support to overcome homelessness and in some cases beat their addiction. Interestingly I have learned that not all people that are homeless have an addiction or mental health issues.
As a volunteer I have lots of different job roles within NCR. At times I assist residents with making and attending essential appointments to care for thier physical and mental health needs. I assist those who need help with daily activities such as cleaning their room or doing their laundry. Some residents are involved in various schemes where they attend work and different courses. As volunteers can also seek out appropriate courses for residents and apply for them. Socialising can be a difficult for some residents in NCR as motivation levels are not very high. We as volunteers try to encourage residents to leave the project and get more involved in the community. This is not an easy task for volunteers and at times can be frustrating as residents are not always co-operative.
So far my expereinces of Dublin Simon NCR have been eye opening. I have learned more than I had imagined possible. I have enhanced both my personal skills and professional skills. I admire the work carried out by each of the services within Dublin Simon Community; it’s an amazing organisation that helps people in all stages of homelessness and also provides fantastic opportunities for students like myself to become involved in the type of work and provides a pathway of learning and development for both service users and staff. The skills and values I have learned here will remain with me throughout my career and will assist me in being able to complete my degree as I have now had the opportunity to witness first hand the applications of psychology within the workplace.
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December Memories and Sing Songs from the Social Club
The Social Club's Christmas outing took place at the Bon Ga Korean All-You-Can-Eat Buffet & Karaoke Restaurant on Capel Street. Raychel Coyle, Social Club Volunteer describes an evening of good food and plenty of good old sing-songs…
The table, which had been booked from 7.00 - 8.30 pm, took up almost the full length of the restaurant and was covered, festive style, in Christmas crackers.
Tony and Margaret were among the first to arrive and were delighted to be seated at the top of the table! It was great to see everyone coming through the door, albeit tentatively at first, being seated and looked after so well by the wonderfully professional staff and volunteers.
Most people took up the offers to be accompanied to the buffet table and be assisted in choosing from the various dishes available. Combinations of dishes were picked with most of us opting for lots of chips on top of course! Before we knew it the table was full and the party hats were on. After a while we were also encouraged by the staff to go up again for more, which went down great!
At 8.30 pm the party moved downstairs to the pre-booked karaoke room which came with two microphones and an easy to use machine (once you got the hang of it)! There were also two books crammed full of songs which everyone waited eagerly to look at and there was great patience shown by those waiting their turn towards others who needed more time and assistance in choosing.
Some of the most memorable moments from the evening where when Tony sang solo (almost!) to 'Let it Snow, Let It Snow, Let it Snow’; Burtor pulled at our heart strings gently singing 'Tell Laura I Love Her', Benny fist-thumping along to his version of a Metallica anthem and of course the finale when everyone sang 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas'. We didn't have to dream hard considering the icy winter weather that waited for us outside.
A big thank you to the staff of Bon Ga, David, Sharon and also to the Monday night's social club's volunteers who also came along and helped make the evening a great success.
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Metro Herald Readers Choose Dublin Simon
Metro Herald newspaper readers have chosen the Dublin Simon Community as their preferred Charity of the Year for 2011. This means that Metro Herald will donate €80,000 worth of free advertising and provide editorial support to the Dublin Simon Community during 2011.
This partnership offers the Dublin Simon Community a unique opportunity to communicate key messages to Metro Herald’s Greater Dublin-based readership to build awareness and encourage support and participation for the good work the Dublin Simon Community do.
Dublin Simon Community, founded over forty years ago, today works with over 2,500 people a year experiencing, or in danger of, homelessness. This help is provided through soup runs, outreach, emergency accommodation, supported housing, treatment service, tenancy sustainment and resettlement.
Sam McGuinness, CEO of Dublin Simon Community said “We’re absolutely delighted to be chosen as Metro Herald’s Charity of the Year. We hope this partnership will help more people understand homelessness and the real issues that are increasingly prevalent in our city, and of course we’ll be urging Metro Herald readers to come onboard for our 2011 initiatives. We’d also like to thank Urban Life readers for voting for Dublin Simon Community”.
Kieran Forde, Marketing & Research Manager for Metro Herald also remarked, ‘Urban Life, our online readership survey, helps us understand our readers better - we know they are socially conscious and have a strong conviction when it comes to helping charities. Through Urban Life, we put our “Charity of the Year” to a vote and this year there was overwhelming support for the Dublin Simon Community. We are delighted to partner with them and support the invaluable work they do for people experiencing homelessness in and around the capital.”
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Old Copiers for Simon
The good people in Office Technology, one of Ireland’s largest and longest established Canon dealerships have come up with a new idea on how the work that they do can in turn help the work done by Dublin Simon Community…
Office Technology has been great supporters of Simon for many years now, donating regularly to the Simon House of Cards Appeal. At the end of 2010, Managing Director Pat Duffy contacted Dublin Simon Community with an idea about how Office Technology could do more for people sleeping rough in the greater Dublin area.
Pat’s idea was one that will not only help Dublin Simon but also benefit people in Third World countries. They will donate all of the proceeds from trading back all non Canon photocopiers which will then be sold on in emerging countries like India where the copiers will get a second life in schools and start up businesses. All of the funds Office Technology receive for their traded back photocopiers will then be donated to Dublin Simon Community on a quarterly basis.
Office Technology’s, Pat Duffy said “This opportunity would not be possible without the support of a great sales team who are committed to helping those who need it most by donating the commission they would normally receive on the sale of these copiers to Dublin Simon Community. The general feeling amongst the team is that they want to help people sleeping rough and help them move on to a home they can call their own.”
Dublin Simon is delighted to have Office Technology on board with this fantastic project. It is a great help to have this kind of planned giving and the funds raised will go towards helping us provide emergency services to those sleeping rough on the streets. So, if your company is thinking of purchasing a new photocopier and needs to get rid of the old one, contact Office Technology today, remember all sales of non Canon copiers will go directly to helping those who need it most.
To find out more about the project please see www.officetechnology.ie
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Join Our Flora Mini-Marathon Team
 Registration is now open for the Flora Mini-Marathon. Why not take part on behalf of Dublin Simon Community and help us help more women away from the dangers of homelessness and into safe and secure accommodation...
Events like these are critical to raising funds for our services. It is thanks to the generosity and willingness of our supporters that we can continue to provide vital services to some of the most isolated and disadvantaged people in our society. XXX Over 20% of our service users are female. Dublin Simon prioritises women who come to us for help because of the very real dangers they face when they are homeless.
Fantastic Prize for our Top Fundraiser
Girlsnightin.ie have again sponsored us an excellent prize for you and six of your friends. By raising the most money for Dublin Simon at this year's mini-marathon you and six of your friends could win the Ultimate Girls Night In Pamper Party, worth €500!! Find out more about this amazing prize at www.girlsnightin.ie.
Want to Help Us Put Homelessness on the Run?
The first step is to register with the event organisers. Registration is now open and you can register by logging on to www.florawomensminimarathon.ie or by completing an entry form in the Evening Herald. The closing date for registration is the April 27th,or when a maxmium number of entries is recieved so register early!
If you would like to run for Dublin Simon in the 2011 Mini-Marathon please fill out the Sponsorship Pack Request Form You can either email this to us at womensminimarathon@dubsimon.ie , or send by post to Dublin Simon Community, 1/2 Cope Street, Dublin 2. We’ll then send out your T-shirt and Sponsorship Card together with Sponsorship Raising Ideas and the official Dublin Simon Training Guide.
If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us on 01 671 5551 or send an email to womensminimarathon@dubsimon.ie.
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Ushers Island Theatre Workshop
The Thursday Night Social Club were delighted to welcome the Mouth on Fire Theatre Company to Ushers Island in January for a Samuel Beckett workshop, one of the first drama workshops held in Ushers…
The Samuel Beckett workshop was based on the full show which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience of service users and volunteers.
The Social Club would like to express their thanks to Cathal and his theatre company for all their effort in putting on the workshop which was much appreciated by all present. Mouth on Fire’s full show will take place in the Focus Theatre, Pembroke Place, Dublin 2 from April 11th to 23rd and is highly recommended.
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Get Involved with Dublin Simon Community
Dublin Simon holds a number of events each year – from walks, the annual Fun Run to cooking or carol singing. There are many ways that you can get involved!
We need people to help out at almost every event, by selling tickets or setting up a venue. If you think you could help out once in a while, please let us know! We’d love to hear from you.
Is organising a small event with friends more your thing?
We love it when people tell us about their collections, coffee mornings, or marathons! Feel free to ask us for the A-Z of Fundraising Ideas! We also have posters and T-shirts to help you with the event and staff in here who can answer any and all of your questions! So please give us a call if you need any more information.
Don’t forget to like us on facebook by clicking here so that you’re kept up to date with what’s going on.
Also, keep an eye on www.dubsimon.ie for upcoming events.
To get involved please call us on (01) 671 5551 or email fundraising@dubsimon.ie
If you’d like to apply to volunteer in the services, please call (01) 889 5800.
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