We started volunteering in January 2024 as Community Volunteers. This is a team of volunteers managed and supported by Wicklow Volunteer Centre. This team of volunteers helps support one-off events and urgent community responses. Since then, we have taken part in many different events as stewards, including marathons, parades, and various celebrations. In the summer of 2024, we also became regular members of the “Tidy Town” group in Greystones.
Volunteering has helped the groups we support by providing extra hands, good energy, and care for the local environment. We believe that even small help makes a big difference, especially in a community where people work together.
When we first decided to volunteer, our main goal was to improve our English, meet new people, and do something useful for the country that welcomed us. But we received much more than we expected. We’ve made wonderful friends — both Ukrainians and Irish — and we’ve learned a lot about Irish life and culture. We always have a great time together, and our English has really improved too.
We would absolutely recommend volunteering to our family, friends, and anyone else. It’s a great way to feel connected, to grow personally, and to give back to the community. We’re really happy to be part of such a friendly and supportive group of people.