County Leitrim is the Winner when it comes to Volunteering!

In Leitrim, 18% of the county's population or almost 6,200 people were volunteering in their community and various organisations in April 2022. The county thus had the highest proportion of its population involved in one or more voluntary activity. There were 3,039 males and more than 3,100 females volunteering. Josephine Stroker manager of Leitrim Volunteer Centre stated “The Volunteer Centre was established in 2021 and we are proud to support a vibrant volunteering culture across the county. Leitrim Volunteer Centre aims to harness this energy and community spirit for the benefit of both the people and communities in Leitrim. We are essentially a one stop shop for all things volunteering related in County Leitrim. We work with incredible volunteers and invaluable community and voluntary groups across the county to help make Leitrim the best
place possible for volunteering”.

Individuals considering volunteering or have questions about what it entails are encouraged give the staff at Leitrim Volunteer Centre a call. They will be happy to help you identify what kinds of skills, knowledge and experience you would like to develop when giving your time to an organisation. They can also help you think about your interests and the kind of organisation that you would like to support. The Centre also provides advice, training, and consultancy to local organisations on a range of issues relating to best practice in volunteer management and delivers a Garda Vetting service for local non-profits. Census data showed that “popular voluntary activity was in the community, where almost 2,600 Leitrim people were volunteering. This was a rate of 18% of the county’s population, the highest nationally. More than 2,500 people volunteered in a sporting organisation while over 1,400 were involved in social or charitable organisations. Just over 1,300 people were volunteering in a religious or church group while there were 200 volunteers in political organisations. Nearly 1,400 people were volunteering in more than one group or activity. This was 4% of the population, the highest rate in the country. Looking at broad age groups, the largest group of volunteers were among people aged 45-64 where there were 2,458 people volunteering. A further 1,714 people aged 25-44 were also involved in voluntary activities. There were 1,140 volunteers aged 65 and over. Almost 300 children (under 15 years old) and nearly 600 people aged 15-24 were also volunteering.