Volunteer centre faces closure over funding

A CENTRE servicing 100 voluntary groups is seeking the assistance of a local authority to prevent its closure.

Clare Volunteer Centre warned there was a strong possibility the facility could be forced to close within months unless it received a significant increase in funding.

The centre was set up in 2009 with the support of Clare County Council and the Clare Local Development Company.

In a letter to the council, the centre’s director Doirin Graham said: “Since then it has become an outstanding success, servicing over 100 voluntary groups and 500 registered volunteers in the county.”

She said the centre operates on a shoestring budget provided by the Government, and this provides only enough funding for a part-time co-ordinator.

“Nevertheless,” she said, “it is considered to be one of the leading volunteer centres in the country, achieving in 2010 a volunteer placement rate of 53%, which is well above the national average.”

Highlighting the funding shortage and the threat of closure, Ms Graham said: “This will have a huge impact on the volunteers and voluntary organisations around Co Clare which it supports.

“I would appeal to councillors, both individually and collectively, to demand adequate funding be provided to ensure that the Clare Volunteer centre continues to operate.”

Cllr Patricia McCarthy said yesterday: “The centre is not looking for an enormous sum. I do think what they are doing is very worthwhile and the centre supports a lot of voluntary organisations.

“I do believe that funding can be found as there is not a huge gap.”

Ms Graham added: “The volunteer centres which were established in other areas of the country prior to Clare were fully resourced by the department.

“However Clare, along with Longford, was at the end of the queue and was only partly funded in €2010 — €32,500 out of a total operating cost of €55,000.

“Additional LEADER funding helped to a fund a number of CVC initiatives to promote volunteering. Crucially, as this level of funding is only sufficient for a part-time service, the Clare Volunteer Centre did not meet one of the main quality standards set nationally, which is to provide a full-time service.

“The CVC in Clare could be operated on a full-time basis in 2011 with a budget of €80,000.”