The winners of the 2024 Co Monaghan Volunteer Awards were recently announced at an event in the Iontas Theatre in Castleblayney. The event was organised by Monaghan Volunteer Centre, which is part of Monaghan Integrated Development and was attended by around 250 people. The winning group were the volunteers who make up the The Monaghan Men's Group. They include men from many different nationalities. Since May 2023 they have been together as an organised group and have supported Monaghan Tidy Towns in many ways. They meet weekly as a group, but many members volunteer extra hours throughout the week. They carry out litter picking, weeding and landscaping and they help maintain the Greenway and the Rotary Garden at Coolshanagh. They were essential to the re-development of the Sage Garden beside the Crocus Cancer Care office in Monaghan town into a wildlife and biodiversity garden and were a great support to Monaghan Tidy Towns and to the National Leaning Network students who were also involved in the Sage Garden project.
Volunteer of the Year went to Patrick Caldwell, who volunteers between 3 and 5 days each week with the organisation Victim Support at Court. He supports crime victims who need to attend courts in Monaghan and Cavan by explaining court procedures, arranging a private space to wait and providing crucial emotional support during a very stressful time. Staff at Victim Support in Court describe Patrick as a role model to fellow volunteers and one victim described him as “an angel in disguise”. Patrick was presented with the perpetual trophy by MID Board member Tommy Duffy. Sinéad asked Patrick about his volunteering and he explained that after he retired from the Probation Service he contacted Monaghan Volunteer Centre and was placed with Victim Support at Court. Patrick explained the importance to crime victims of having someone to support them during such a stressful experience.
Finally, this year's Lifetime Achievement Award went to Pat Lennon who has been volunteering for 62 years and despite officially retiring from volunteering he still continues to video local community events. Some of his many roles over the years include organising youth clubs, badminton and bowls events; being secretary of Latton Football Club and a member and director of Latton Social Services. Pat was a member of Cootehill Chamber of Commerce when it attracted Abbott Laboratories to set up in Cootehill and was also involved in setting up the Balti Bus rural transport scheme in the early 2000s and lots more besides. Pat has a strong interest in local history and has made many videos of local community events, assisted with local history books and is part of the Latton Bawn Historical Group. Earlier this year Pat spent 8 videoing the events to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Senator Billy Fox. To find out more about volunteering or if your voluntary group would like new volunteers, please contact Monaghan Volunteer Centre at 087 4173944 or [email protected] or visit www.volunteermonaghan.ie
