Three of the top five Louth Volunteer Leader Awards go to Drogheda

Community spirit is alive and well in Drogheda. Three of the top five awards in the recent Louth Volunteer Leader Awards were won by individuals representing community organisations from the town.

The Drogheda/South Louth category was won by Cliodhna Cunningham of Connect Family Resource Centre who provide a variety of supports to the community in Moneymore and across the north side of Drogheda.

Elizabeth Carolan Doyle of the Order of Malta in Drogheda was the winner of the COVID19 category. Many people will be familiar with Liz who has been leading volunteers in the Order of Malta and organisations like the Special Olympics in Drogheda for many years.

This year the Louth Volunteer Centre team added a ‘Leading Young Volunteers’ category and the first winner of this award was Roisín Curtis, TY coordinator in St. Mary’s Diocesan School in Drogheda is.

The awards ceremony took place in the O’Connell’s GFC Clubhouse Castlebellingham last Friday which was International Volunteer Managers Day. The event was the first in-person Community Networking event organised by the Louth Volunteer Centre since the start of COVID.

The Manager of Louth Volunteer Centre, Gráinne Berrill, said that the number and quality of nominations this year had really blown them away.

“We received more than double the individual nominations from last year. We certainly didn’t envy the job of our judges in making their selections, particularly in the Drogheda category as we received a significant number of really impactful nominations in that category” she said.

“Young people are the future of our communities and all the evidence shows that if an individual engages with volunteering in their youth they are more likely to come back to it in adulthood. We really wanted to showcase the importance of those who support, encourage and nurture volunteering amongst young people which is why we added this new category.”

A large crowd of community and volunteer leaders from all across County Louth gathered to reconnect with each other and to see the presentation of the Louth Volunteer Leader Awards.

In a show of support for the volunteer leaders the event was attended by a number of public representatives including TDs Ged Nash and Ruairí O’Murchú; Senator John McGahon and Councillors Paddy McQuillan, Maeve Yore, Bernie Conlon, Kevin Meenan, Pearse McGeough and Seán Reilly.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering in Louth contact the Louth Volunteer Centre team at 0419809008 or info@volunteerlouth.ie. The Louth Volunteer Leader Awards are sponsored by the Department of Rural and Community Development.