Members Spotlight Archive - Page 2 of 2 - Dublin City Public Participation Network

Friends of the Elderly Ireland

Friends of the Elderly is an Irish volunteer based charity established in 1980 to bring friendship and companionship to older people living alone or who feel lonely. Since opening our doors we have been working to improve the lives our older members by offering emotional and social support. With a small staff and a dedicated crew of volunteers, we reach out in various ways to our older neighbours. Our goal is to enable our older members to maintain their independence while helping them feel connected to a larger community. We offer volunteers the opportunity to join our older members in friendship and celebration of life.

Our focus is on a practical approach to dealing with loneliness and social isolation, alleviating its effects by providing social engagement programmes such as Home Visitation, Friendly Call Service, Social Club and organising Day Trips or Social Events. In the last year we were privileged to touch the lives of up to 500 older women and men, all with the help of over 150 volunteers. Friends of the Elderly receives no government funding: all funds are raised from individual and corporate donors. We want to thank everyone for their support.

Find out how you can help or get involved by visiting our website.

Adekunle Gomez

Profile

Adekunle Gomez is the secretary and programme director of the African Cultural Project (also known as, The Africa Institute in Ireland). The main objective of the African Cultural Project is to provide information on Africa to the Irish public. Through the facilitation of cultural and educational events featuring Africa’s rich and diverse cultural traditions, the project aims to promote an understanding of the African continent and of the countries and people of Africa. The African Cultural Project has collaborated with a variety of institutions throughout the years including the National Concert Hall, the Chester Beatty Library, the Irish Writers’ Centre, the Public Library system, Local Authority Arts Officers, Alliance Française Dublin, University Language departments, and others.

When did your organization/group join the PPN?

African Cultural Project has been an active member of the Dublin City community since joining the Council’s community forum in 1999. It continued this participation by joining Dublin City PPN in 2017.

What was your main reason for joining the PPN?

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The Irish Blue Cross

The Irish Blue Cross animal welfare charity was founded in 1945 by a group of like-minded people determined to prevent the live exportation of Irish horses to the continent for slaughter. It wasn’t long before the group realised that the plight of Dublin’s sick dogs and cats desperately needed to be addressed. The solution came when the first Irish Blue Cross mobile clinic hit Dublin’s streets in 1953, prioritising it’s presence in areas where there was highest demand for charitable veterinary services.

In 2009, our small animal clinic was established with state of the art facilities at our base in Inchicore, Dublin 8. The opening of that clinic, complemented by our mobile clinics, has made an immeasurable difference to so many communities across Dublin and without our support, many families would struggle with providing necessary care and assistance for their pets. Today, our clinic services have expanded to ten locations across Dublin each week day evening, locations such as Cabra, Tallaght, Blanchardstown, Crumlin, Ballyfermot, Ballybrack, Smithfield, Walkinstown, Finglas and Donnycarney. Where pets require more comprehensive clinical examinations and treatments, they are referred to our Inchicore clinic.

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TOG Hackerspace

TOG hackerspace is a based in Dublin City. It is a shared space where members can have a place to be creative and work on their projects in an environment that is both inspiring and supportive of both new and old technologies. We had our first meeting on the 21st of January 2009 with a group of 17 people, some who had never met before, came together to form a group with the intention of setting up a hackerspace in Dublin. The meeting was great and everyone was full of enthusiasm.

In less than 3 months we had membership coming in from over 20 members and a roof over our head. The space is fully funded by its members and gives members 24/7 access to work on a project or just a place to hang out.

Victim Support at Court (V-SAC)

Victim Support at Court or V-SAC, is the only voluntary service in Ireland dedicated solely to court accompaniment for victims of crime, their families and witnesses. They are at the forefront of delivering a high quality court accompaniment service within the Irish judicial system.

If you have been the victim of a crime, their court accompaniment service can help you while you attend court.

In this spotlight video about V-SAC we speak with three of their volunteer coordinators and volunteers to discuss their roles in supporting victims of crime while they are attending court.

The Dublin City PPN in the National Botanic Gardens

Ruth Powel and Beatriz Cintas Cantarero of the Dublin City PPN explain what a Public Participation Network is, how it works, how it benefits the local community, and how you can get involved.

The Dublin City PPN is the main link through which Dublin City Council connects with community and voluntary, social inclusion and environmental groups. The PPN will provide groups with:

Opportunities to influence decision making
Access to information – on finance, consultations, developments
Training
Opportunities to network with other groups
Community representation and organised engagement with Dublin City Council

The PPN has made a number of videos of some of our member organisations which showcase what they do and how their organisation benefits from being a PPN member.