SVP seeking to recruit Mayo social housing volunteers
While generally known for their work in helping the poor and those in need, St Vincent de Paul is also an approved housing body providing social housing nationally, with homes being delivered and managed by volunteers assisted by housing officers employed by the SVP to help with the running of housing projects.
The Mayo Saint Vincent de Paul branch is putting out a call to recruit new volunteers to provide support for their housing in the following areas: Castlebar, Charlestown, Foxford, Westport, Ballinrobe and Swinford.
This work is very different from St Vincent de Paul visitation work as it requires people with a certain skillset to support the local conferences with their great housing work.
For the social housing volunteer roles, the society are reaching out to people with experience in the areas of architecture, engineering, surveying, accountancy, health & safety, social work/social care, business, legal and IT, who may be a particularly good fit and an advantage in volunteering roles.
SVP ask that prospective volunteers would be able to give three hours approximately a week of their time and attend various meetings locally and regionally with the support of other volunteers and housing officers.
Being a member of an SVP Social Housing Conference is a very rewarding position and it should be stressed that everybody who volunteers, or is considering volunteering, has something valuable to offer and are vital to keeping the show on the road.
Right now SVP are trying to focus on building up its Castlebar Conference as well as areas further afield. If you have a little spare time then do consider coming on board.
The SVP will be hosting a Social Housing information meeting in the Ellison Hotel, Castlebar, Thursday next, February 22, at 7.30 p.m.
For those interested in getting involved, no matter in what capacity or with as much or as little time commitment as you can spare, SVP would love to see you there on the evening.
To make initial enquiries about the volunteering positions please contact Michael Robinson, West Region Housing Officer, on 086 1366744, e-mail michael.robinson@svp.ie, or Castlebar Scheme Officer Linda Nicholl on 086 4402043, e-mail lindanichol@svp.ie