Search Results for 'Community building'

The Credit Union Art Competition is back and this year’s theme is The Force of Nature. The theme has been designed in an effort to get participants ‘thinking green’ by depicting their visions of a clean pollution and litter-free environment while also imagining the different forces of nature within the world.

Two of Galway’s largest Credit Unions, St. Jarlath’s and St. Anthony’s & Claddagh Credit Unions have been awarded the Customer Service Excellence Award from the industry recognised Customer Service Excellence Ireland (C.S.E.I.) which is endorsed by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government Agency. C.S.E.I. has over 20 years of combined Customer Service Quality initiatives with businesses and groups such as the London Olympics 2012, Marriott Hotel Group, Costa Coffee and Chelsea F.C. and many others.

Two of Galway’s largest Credit Unions, St. Jarlath’s and St. Anthony’s & Claddagh Credit Unions have been awarded the Customer Service Excellence Award from the industry recognised Customer Service Excellence Ireland (C.S.E.I.) which is endorsed by Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Government Agency. C.S.E.I. has over 20 years of combined Customer Service Quality initiatives with businesses and groups such as the London Olympics 2012, Marriott Hotel Group, Costa Coffee and Chelsea F.C. and many others.

A Mayo family who regularly host intercultural exchange students from all over the world were presented with an award at the 2014 EIL Intercultural Learning Host Family Awards Ceremony in Dublin last weekend. Bernie and Colum Gavin from Castlebar have opened their home to participants from EIL’s intercultural exchange programme for many years. Speaking from the awards, director of EIL Intercultural Learning, Kevin Hickey, said: “Every year, hundreds of Irish families like the Gavin family open up their homes to international students who come here to study and immerse themselves in Irish culture. A number of the families who received awards have been hosting students for over 10 years, and many of them keep up regular contact with those who have stayed with them over the years. The length of the students’ stays varies from a few weeks up to a year, so it is a huge undertaking for these families, but the fact that most of them do it on an ongoing basis is testament to how rewarding it is not only for the families, but also for their wider communities in Mayo and throughout the country.” He concluded, saying: “The Gavin family’s story is living proof of the enormous impact that these intercultural experiences can have on both the participant and the host family, so I am delighted to be able to recognise that work at this very special event today.”

The Irish Red Cross is appealing to Galway gardening enthusiasts to take part in Open Gardens 2014.

The GIY Get Ireland Growing fund is open to community groups, schools, allotments with communal space, community gardens, and not-for-profits looking to develop or enhance an existing community food-growing initiative. Schools can apply for training services or equipment that will allow students to grow their own fruit or vegetables.

“Communities that grow together stay together.”

Social media can be a wonderful experience. It allows those who do not have a voice to have a voice. It creates links and new communities that pave the way for new sorts of communication. It allows businesses and organisations to communicate directly with their customers and members in ways that would have been deemed impractical in the past. It also gets people using the medium of language in order to praise, to encourage, to support, to embolden people who need emboldening, to vocalise causes that might otherwise remain silent.

The first Organic Community Garden in Castlebar is up and running and donations of gardening tools, plants, etc, are being sought from individuals or businesses in the Castlebar area.

As recessionary times set in, the attraction of growing vegetables and gardening is becoming something of a fixation. One innovative Galway woman has made it her mission to create a city centre community garden.