One project arranged involves coming up with the cheapest way to distribute two hundred thousand free sample packets of the new Trebor chewing [...]]]> For one reason or another,  I often get the opportunity to help people solve their business problems, so I’m formalising this and registering as a sole trader and declaring myself open for business!

One project arranged involves coming up with the cheapest way to distribute two hundred thousand free sample packets of the new Trebor chewing gum, another project is to solve some annoying problems that a small business is having with their emails/information systems and yet another project is to promote a charity which operates like a business, and is completely non-profit.  I’m looking forward to fitting all this in around my full-time job, and open to talking about jobs that might need doing in April/May.

So – if anyone has a problem that I could fix, get in touch and we’ll have a chat about it. Send-me-a-note and I’ll get back to you.  No charge unless something’s agreed!

Volunteering is not a waste of time, as long as you choose a high-quality organisation (which I would define as a signatory of the Comhlamh Volunteer Charter). As well as the short term benefits to the community overseas, and [...]]]> (at the outset I should say that I work for an NGO that sends volunteers overseas)

Volunteering is not a waste of time, as long as you choose a high-quality organisation (which I would define as a signatory of the Comhlamh Volunteer Charter). As well as the short term benefits to the community overseas, and the volunteer, the long term benefits are the real story here.

Some criticisms you might hear are that the volunteer is only doing something to make themselves feel better, or that if they really cared so much they would just give the money they had fundraised directly to the community overseas.

Taking them one at a time; of course the volunteer will feel better about doing some good, this is an important aspect and not to be ignored. But their help is very much appreciated by the communities overseas. For example, here’s a quote from a director of Prayas Jahangirpuri, an Indian organisation that receives Irish volunteers each summer:

I must thank you for providing us opportunity to work with such wonderful and committed people who have worked so hard with the children of Prayas

What of the notion that the fundraised money would do more good if it were just donated to the community overseas? On the surface, this makes a lot of sense, but it is an extremely short-term view. I can only explain how our organisation, Suas Educational Development, operates, but in our case we realise that the solution to the education problem is not just financial. There are upwards of 70 million school-age children that don’t go to primary school and it will never be possibly to fundraise enough to put them all into school. The problem is far more complex.

There are social and economic reasons why children aren’t in school and, in general, people that volunteer overseas get a deeper understanding of those issues, and are more passionate to do something about it, than people that don’t have the same experience. After their time as a volunteer, they can get involved in local or international politics, they can talk with their friends and families about the problems (and the solutions) and they will understand that while donations of funds are crucial at the moment, that is not the long term solution.

That is the reason why volunteering is about more than ‘the summer overseas’, because it gives people an experience of a situation that they cannot get any other way. It’s not the only route to understanding, but it is certainly a summer well spent.

To learn more about the organisation that I work for, and to apply (before December 21st) for next summers Volunteer Progamme, visit suas.ie

No-one was checking wristbands, in fact no-one seemed [...]]]> In July 2007, some friends of mine were playing at a small festival in Wicklow.  We went down for the weekend and were stunned to find this tiny vibrant festival split between a small field for camping and a marquee in a pub car park down the road.

No-one was checking wristbands, in fact no-one seemed to be working, yet everything seemed to be magically happening.  Some of the bands and people that I met that weekend really left a longing in me to go back to the same affair the next year.

In June 2008, I looked up the festival (Knockanstockan) and found that they were recruiting volunteers. I went along to a meeting and there was a really great energy and I was looking forward to getting involved.  I was expecting that I’d be pulling pints or directing traffic in return for my free ticket.

After chatting for a while, I realised that some aspects weren’t organised at all – even though all of the bands were booked, there was no insurance, there was no company to buy the insurance and the plan to bus people between a camping site and a field 3 miles away was a disaster waiting to happen.  Oh, and no-one had told the guards that we were planning a festival for 1000 people!

Some friends of mine got involved with me and together we started helping out. Lots of other people started chipping in too and within a few weeks, all of the above problems were solved.  I had ended up as a director of Knockanstockan Ltd, the stages at the venue were literally growing out of the ground and there was an incredible buzz in the air.

On the weekend itself, over 1,000 people took part in the festival.  It was the most tiring and rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life. We ran a safe festival, which gave meant we could do it the next year and everybody left with great memories and new friends.

If you go to one festival, get yourself to a Knockanstockan.