STORIES
On this page we will pick the best stories to share with you concerning people loving their neighbours. We don't want to glorify anyone as we we would rather that these acts are carried out humbly - yet we must encourage
each other and these stories will do that. Many of Jesus activities are recorded in the scriptures. If you have a story then please submit it under the SHARE YOUR ACTIVITY tab on this site. So enjoy reading here.
President McAleese praises Jobcare’s Trasna programme:
On Monday evening the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Ceremony was held in The Exchange on Gardiner Street with President McAleese as Special Guest Speaker. About 350 people attended.
While the event was to honour this year's recipients of SEI Awards (Level One (minor) and Level Two (major)), SEI also chose to profile and spotlight Jobcare's Trasna programme. Paul Mooney was a Level Two Awardee in 2007 and given €75,000 to set up the Trasna programme for ex-offenders. Trasna represents a significantly successful project for them, with real outcomes to show for their sponsorship of Jobcare over the past two years: the 12 men currently on Trasna at the moment, the other 17 who have been on the programme over the period since January 2008, the restoration of the Gardiner Street building and the way Paul has been able to establish Trasna as a sustainable programme. Indeed, Paul is a prime example of a social entrepreneur and SEI take great pride in now having him as an alumnist of their awards process.
The whole evening was a wonderful showcase for Jobcare's Trasna programme:
- The upper hall in Gardiner street looked fabulous and was an ideal venue for the event. It was a testament to how the Trasna work team had been involved in authentically excellent craftsmanship. There were many references during the course of the night to their part in the restoration.
- The Trasna participants were on hand, smartly dressed all in black, working on security, setting up the seating/lighting/AV equipment etc.
- Sean Coughlan, CEO of SEI, highlighted Paul and the Trasna Programme as an example of a successful social entrepreneurship project.
- President McAleese, in her speech, praised Paul's vision and his work in getting Trasna going. She held up the Trasna participants as examples of how personal commitment to change is so dynamic. All in all, she spoke about our project for about 3-4 minutes.
SEI has commissioned a short film about Paul and Trasna. This was unveiled on Monday and shown to all during the ceremony. Here is a link to the film on Jobcare's MEDIA page. Click on the Trasna Short Film.
http://www.jobcare.ie/newsite/About/Media.php
At the end of the ceremony the Trasna participants were called up onto the stage to present the President with flowers and they stood there as President McAleese greeted them all and had photographs taken with them. It was a proud and moving moment for Paul and Jobcare, and great for Jobcare that all the guests left the event with that scene in their minds.
The Awards Ceremony wasa great promotional event for Jobcare and has generated a lot of interest in
the work we are doing. We thought you would be interested in hearing about it.
Here is a link to some photographs that Jonny Pardoe, our HR Manager and
resident photographer, took of the event:
See also Jobcare's website report on the event:
http://www.jobcare.ie/newsite/About/News.php
Here’s a good neighbourly experience for you. I was buying a TWILIGHT DVD for my daughter in Heathrow last week – and as I was handing over my money I heard another conversation going on beside me where the customer with a familiar Cork accent was buying something that was £12 and 1 penny – the assistance was asking him had he got a penny as otherwise he would have to give him 99p in change. I had my hand full of coins at this stage and offered that up however the lowest denomination I had was 5p – which wasn’t good enough for this assistant who proceeded to count out the 99p change. I was only half looking at the customer at this stage and we were having a laugh at the guys insistence on getting his penny, when I turned around it turned out to be Keith Wood. We were talking and laughing about the penny/cent saucer practice in Ireland which clearly didn’t make it to the UK.
So despite meeting Woody I had lost my faith in human nature until I went to buy some wine. The assistant asked would I also take a bag for African charity which I agreed but then it turned out I was about 30p short (of the £3 for the bag) before breaking into a tenner – this assistant saw the bigger picture and left me with the tenner.
Faith restored !
TWILIGHT is a movie/book series about vampires that is big with the young ones in case you are wondering.
Give It A Swirl (Fingal Volunteer Centre) :: September 25th 2009 will be Give It A Swirl, The National Day of Volunteering. Give It A Swirl is a unique initiative as it concentrates on hands-on involvement rather than fundraising, giving volunteers an immediate sense of achievement. For Give It A Swirl we encourage organisations to create once-off volunteering opportunities that benefit them and the community – and which show that volunteering, even for a few short hours, can make a difference and be a lot of fun. If people then want to get involved in volunteering on a more long-term basis as a result, we’re all in favour of that too! // www.volunteerfingal.ie
It's the Simple Things That Count (TheIrishTimes.com) :: Rather than grand gestures, it is the simple everyday kindnesses that make the biggest difference to our relationships, writes JOHN SHARRY . Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least – Goethe // Read more from It's the Simple Things That Count
Green My Hood, Atlanta, Georgia (USA) :: Is it possible to create a new economy in the hood that would create jobs, lower energy costs, reduce the carbon footprint of an urban neighborhood, and allow neighbors to get to know one another at the same time? I think there just might be a way to make this a reality. I would like to green my hood. // Read more from Green My Hood
God's Garden, Louisville, Kentucky (USA) :: Meet Stephen Bartlett, an urban gardener and educator in Louisville, Kentucky. His passion isn’t just for squash, tomatoes, and corn — it’s for his Presbyterian church community and how it can grow, literally. And grow they do. // Read more from God's Garden
CORE Church of Ireland, Dublin :: Rev. Jonathan Kissel faces the challenge and responses of an inner city parish. Located in James’s Street, Dublin, CORE has an active community service outreach programme in one of Dublin’s more deprived areas, serving families and older people with a range of personal and community activities and services. They see the results in a renewed community spirit in their area. // www.corechurch.ie
HACKETSTOWN CHRISTIAN CENTRE, Co. Carlow :: Elizabeth Byrne explained how a simple gesture of sending greeting cards to people in the town for different occasions has developed into a personal programme of visiting, phone calling and praying for and with individuals and families. The local response has amazed this small group of Christians and clearly demonstrates the need for such conscious acts of kindness in all sizes of community.
URBAN SOUL, Dublin :: Scott Evans explained that Urban Soul seeks to deliver hope, bestow dignity, bring equality of opportunity and inspire long-term change through an active citizenship programme for youth (15 years +) Partnering with local communities, they seek to serve their aims and empower them to achieve their dreams. Urban Soul gathers young people who are passionate about social action through projects like area clean-ups, painting over graffiti, running community events, etc. Their underlying values are those taught and demonstrated by Jesus - whose life and teachings show us that loving God is just the beginning: we are also called to active love our neighbours. // www.urbansoul.eu
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL :: Professor John Monaghan (SVP Vice-President) explained the Christian social principles driving SVP's work. With 9,500 volunteers, SVP is Ireland's largest voluntary organisation of social concern and action and spent over €50m in 2008 fighting poverty and serving all over Ireland. Local branches of between 4 and 10 volunteers pro-actively seek to meet the physical and emotional needs of their local communities. They work with families, individuals, elderly, children and whole communities. He called on everyone who cares for their community to get behind the LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR campaign. // www.svp.ie