Mayo town announced as candidate for European Volunteering Capital 2026
BALLINA has been announced as a candidate for the title of European Volunteering Capital 2026 by the Centre for European Volunteering (CEV) based in Brussels.
It is one of just three European municipalities shortlisted for the prestigious title - the other two are Maia in Portugal and Rzeszów in Poland.
The Ballina Municipal District, together with Volunteer Ireland, Mayo PPN, Mayo Volunteer Centre and Ballina 2023, have been working together to secure the title and a delegate will travel to the EV Capital 2026 candidates presentation event in Brussels on September 10. The winner will be announced on November 29 in Trento, Italy, which currently holds the title of European Volunteering Capital.
Speaking about the announcement, cathaoirleach of Ballina Municipal District, Councillor Michael Loftus, said: “We are delighted to be a candidate for European Volunteering Capital 2026. This is a wonderful opportunity for Ballina and the surrounding region to acknowledge and celebrate the meitheal ethos and the strength of community volunteering that exists here.”
Head of Ballina Municipal District, Declan Turnbull, added: “We have over 130 community and voluntary groups and organisations as Mayo PPN members in the Ballina Municipal District alone.
“Holding the title of European Volunteering Capital 2026 would be an enormous credit to all of these groups and, if successful, we will look forward to working with our local, regional and national partners to continue to develop volunteering programmes in this district through the implementation of the recommendations of the Blueprint for European Volunteering 2030 (BEV2030) and the European Solidarity Corps programme in Ballina.”
CEO of Volunteer Ireland, Nina Arwitz, was delighted to see Ballina’s candidacy, commenting: “Ballina Municipal District has an active and vibrant volunteering community. Through building connections across other parts of Europe, there is the opportunity for sharing approaches and knowledge and creating links with other volunteering communities across Europe to deliver programmess, which would be of great benefit to the region, and nationally.”
Lesley Moore, manager of Mayo Volunteer Centre, added: “We continue to see growing numbers of community volunteers’ express interest in contributing more actively to their locality, particularly as awareness continues to grow of the enormous benefits of volunteering. This title would greatly increase access to these opportunities locally for many more people and importantly, improve the quality of these experiences.”
A jury of volunteering representatives from civil society, the private and for-profit sector, as well as the EU institutions, will assess candidates based on their strategies, policies and programmes in connection to the Blueprint for European Volunteering 2030 (BEV2030) and to the CEV’s Volunteering Policy Statements.
All three candidates join the European Volunteering Capital Candidates Community' (EVCCC), a unique Community of Practice of municipalities (and other levels of local and regional authorities) that have expertise in, and a shared concern for, strengthening, inspiring and celebrating volunteering and solidarity.
The candidates will gain European-wide visibility for excellence in policies and programmes that support volunteers and volunteering regarding existing practices, and for ambitious, credible and quality-focused plans for future growth and development in the field of volunteering.
The European Volunteering Capital Competition co-funded by the European Union Citizens, Equality Rights and Values fund (CERV) recognises and rewards municipalities that support volunteers and volunteering in their communities and is a source of inspiration and motivation for all municipalities across Europe to make even greater efforts to promote and celebrate volunteering.
Gabriella Civico, CEV director, commented: “All three candidates will play a key role in motivating, inspiring and encouraging other municipalities to improve their provision of supportive and facilitatory policies and programs for quality volunteering.
“It is especially interesting that this year again, none of the candidates are from capital cities. We are showing, through this competition, that quality support for volunteering from policymakers does not depend on size or status of the location but on the interest, understanding and commitment of our elected officials to properly support volunteers not as purely deliverers of services but as an expression of EU values, the heart of our democratic societies.”