By Dan Walsh
The RNLI is looking for new fundraising volunteers to join its lifesaving crew in Co. Wexford with opportunities to get involved with branches in Courtown, Wexford, New Ross, Kilmore Quay, Hook/Fethard and Rosslare.
Just like the charity’s lifeboats, the RNLI’s fundraising team need a dedicated volunteer crew. Volunteers are at the heart of the RNLI and make up 95% of its people. They are ordinary people who do extraordinary things and without them, the organisation couldn’t continue to save lives at sea.
Grainne O’Brien, Secretary of the Kilmore Quay Guild, told WexfordLocal.com; ‘I come from a fishing family and my grandfather Paddy Hayes and my uncle John Hayes were both crew on the lifeboat in Kilmore Quay. From a kid growing up, I always knew the importance of the lifeboat to our community.
“I first got involved in volunteering as a teenager helping in the shop over the summer breaks. Then when I moved home after been away in Galway and Athlone, I wanted to give something back, so I started by helping out in the shop again and then I got involved in fundraising and now I am the secretary of the Kilmore Quay Guild.’
Mary Creedon, RNLI Fundraising Partnership Lead hails the selfless efforts of people like Grainne: ‘Without our volunteers, the RNLI simply would not be able to operate the way it does today. With 92% of the RNLI’s income coming from donations, the charity relies on the generosity of supporters and on the dedication of our fundraising volunteers to help raise essential funds.
To find out more about how you can sign up to be a fundraising volunteer at the RNLI in Courtown, Wexford, New Ross, Kilmore Quay, Hook/Fethard and Rosslare, or to apply, click on this link rnli.org/OneCrewVolunteers
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