March 2011 NUI Galway Host Photographic Exhibition to Celebrate Student Volunteering

NUI Galway will host a photographic exhibition entitled We Volunteer! to celebrate and recognise student volunteering across Ireland from 28 March to 1 April. Third-level institutions from north and south have come together to develop the exhibition in celebration of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 and to recognise the tremendous contribution which student volunteers make to the lives of their communities. The steering group for the exhibition consists of NUI Galway, UL, LIT, DIT, TCD and DCU. We Volunteer! will provide an opportunity to showcase the wealth and diversity of volunteering and community organisations across Ireland. The exhibition will also highlight the myriad of benefits students experience from volunteering and inspire more people to volunteer. The exhibition is travelling around Ireland to college campuses and internationally during the European Year. The exhibition showcases the work of student volunteers from twenty Higher Education Institutions across Ireland with diverse organisations ranging from the Christina Noble Foundation in Vietnam, to Chrysalis Community Drug Project in Dublin, from the Galway Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to community enterprise in Belfast, from peer mentoring programmes in Limerick and Cork, to Karate coaching in Newry. Speaking about the exhibition, Lorraine Tansey, Student Volunteer Coordinator at NUI Galway, said: "This collaborative exhibition is a great opportunity to visually demonstrate how volunteers get involved, make a commitment and bring about change as well as making an impact in Galway and beyond." The exhibition will be the main feature of this year's ALIVE Certificate Ceremony, which will see 1,000 NUI Galway students receive Certificates from the President of NUI Galway, Dr James J. Browne, for their volunteering with Childline, Youth Work Ireland, Foróige, and Positive Mental Health, to mention a few. Nicola Brassil, NUI Galway student volunteer with the GSPCA and Clare Youth Service, features in the exhibition and said: "I learned that people of all ages can come up with very real and useful ways by which to make their community and country a better place." Members of the public are welcome to visit the We Volunteer! exhibition in the Foyer, Áras na Mac Léinn, NUI Galway. For more information on the exhibition visit www.wevolunteer.ie. -emds-