2022 Louth Volunteer Leader Awards takes place in Castlebellingham

Louth Volunteer Centre says it was delighted to host the Louth Volunteer Leader Awards on Wednesday in O’Connell’s GAA club in Castlebellingham.

These awards were a chance to nominate a local hero for the work they do in leading volunteers. Volunteer leaders are usually behind the scenes and rarely recognised for the incredible work that they do. The Louth Volunteer Leader Awards are the perfect opportunity to recognise this work and show our appreciation to the volunteer leaders in our community.

“To read the nominations coming in and hear more about the incredible work being done in Louth by Volunteer Leaders was humbling, I certainly did not envy the judges and the difficult job they had of choosing the awardees” says Olivia Conlon, Volunteer Development Officer with Louth Volunteer Centre.

“We were absolutely delighted to be joined at the event by all the nominees and to have the opportunity to celebrate the work they do. The Awardee for the Drogheda/South Louth Category was Sinead Nugent from Connect FRC. As the person who nominated Sinead stated, “Sinead is someone who absolutely values and prioritises the work and commitment of volunteers.”

The Awardee of the Mid Louth category was Orla Brennan with Dynamites Basketball Club. “Orla has encouraged numerous teenager's male and female to participate in the introduction to coaching therefore encouraging our young to continue the legacy of coaching basketball” says Orla’s nominator. Orla has done fantastic work in promoting the club and even after a serious injury continued to be there and offer her support.

The awardee for the Dundalk/North Louth category was Mary Murdock from Dundalk RFC. Mary has been with the club for a staggering 17 years. “Mary started Dundalk RFCs bid to Tackle Breast Cancer with an army of volunteers behind her raising thousands for Breast Cancer Research and the local Louth Palliative Care.” says Mary's daughter Sophia who nominator her for the award.

The final category was the Leading Young Volunteers. The Awardee for this category was Calvin Magee from M.A.D Youth Theatre. “Calvin seamlessly made the switch to leader last year. He is looked up too by the members as he used to be 'one of them'. “This is what Kwasie and I aimed for, to be made redundant by our young members” say Gerry another M.A.D Youth Theatre leader who nominated Calvin for this award.

Louth Volunteer Centre says it would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Volunteer Leaders in Louth for their amazing work and contribution to the community. It says it would also like to thank the wonderful volunteer judges who took on the incredibly difficult task of choosing the awardees. They were Nina Arwitz CEO of Volunteer Ireland, Mary Deery former Community Development Lead of Louth County Council, Michelle Hall Mayor of Drogheda, and Dawn Finnegan of Dawn LA Blog.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering in Louth contact Louth Volunteer Centre on 041-9809008 or info@volunteerlouth.ie