May 2017 St Angela’s College Sligo Presents President’s Awards for Student Volunteering

St Angela’s College, Sligo together with NUI Galway presented the 2017 President’s Award for Student Volunteering at a special ceremony on Tuesday 25 April.  The 2017 recipients volunteered in a range of local community projects and have fundraised for a variety of causes and also participated in the campus mentoring programmes.

The ALIVE Certificate is awarded to students that demonstrate a commitment to volunteering and reflect on their learning from the experience through an online portfolio. 

Dr Anne Taheny, President of St Angela’s College said: “We are delighted to celebrate the student’s commitments as we strive to encourage an ethos of student volunteering and engagement with community activities.”  Partnering with the Sligo Volunteer Centre, the event is part of the European Capital of Volunteering Sligo 2017 programme.

The students from St Angela’s College gave an average of 34 hours this year equating to €13,590 of in kind time to social, environmental, health and education programmes. This is an estimate amount of forty-five students earning the minimum wage.

Lorraine Tansey, ALIVE Student Volunteering Programme Coordinator, said: “Through campus based volunteering roles like mentoring and class representative, students are building democracy skills like decision making, debating, listening and referrals. There is a real campus community of voluntary effort that also extends to local and international volunteering.”

Gráinne O'Toole, a third year student studying Home Economics and Biology Teaching, said: “Mentoring ensures an effortless transition for students leaving secondary school and entering third level education. The programme provides a local and small community for first year students who may be nervous or homesick in making new connections with us and other mentors in their year group, and making them feel more at ease.”

Students this year volunteered with Samaritans, Irish Girl Guides, Fáilte Isteach Conversation Classes, Foróige and Special Olympics to mention a few. Ann Coyle student volunteer with Foróige said: “Volunteering has enabled me to advance my career and I have brought happiness, energy and laughter to children at Foróige Sligo. I have impacted the first year students of my course by sharing my knowledge and experiences of my first year experience with them to help them settle into being away from home.”

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