Ireland is a wonderful country; it is safe, friendly, English speaking, rich in heritage, history and culture. From vibrant, exciting cities to spectacular countryside – it’s a magical place to visit. It’s also a wonderful place to stay and immerse yourself doing meaningful volunteer work.

CTL Ireland is collaborating with a well-established schools and organisations which organise preschool and aftershool activities as well as summer camps with local children. Programmes are designed by experienced staff and have been fine-tuned through years of experience and feedback from parents and camps participants. Volunteers assist staff in facilitating activities and in looking after the daily needs of the children, while providing them with a fun, safe and supportive environment. Volunteers will be match to the relevant project according to their skills and interests.

Volunteer Work

The main role of the volunteers is to assist project staff in running the activities with children and teenagers. Volunteers are expected to work around 5 to 7 hours per day. 

Depending on the project, volunteers can help in a number of areas:

• Assisting staff in carrying out activities with children young people:
  
• Play games
  
• Run sport activities
  
• Helping staff with preparing activities
  
• Helping with tidying up and cleaning 

The activities depend on the type of project assigned to the volunteers:

- Afterschool clubs and Playschools 

We collaborate with community-oriented playschools and afterschool clubs around the country. These projects offers a diversity of activities for local children (games, sports, homework etc.). During the school year, help is needed to run After School Club and Playschool session for pre-school children. Durring the summer, volunteers can help with the summer camps. Volunteers assist experienced staff members in running activities with children aged 3 to 12 year old. 

- Primary Schools and High Schools

We have a limited number of placements in local primary and high school for participants aged over 21 years old who are studying to become teachers. Such participants will help in local high school as classroom assistant and help running different activities within the school. 

- Youth Clubs

We collaborate with projects working with young people from disadvantaged background. These placements are available for participants aged over 21 years old who are studying social care studies. These projects generally offer the possibility to take part in a number specific sessions during the week and would need to be combined with another project to reach full time involvement.

- Summer camps:

CTL collaborates with summer camps in different towns around the country. They offer various activities for children (arts and craft, games, sports etc.) 

Who are we looking for?

This projects are searching for friendly, energetic, outgoing, open-minded and team-focused people with previous experience working with children (2 reference letters are required) and a genuine interest in working with children and teenagers. Flexibility and reliability are other important skills. They must be over 18 when the project starts. Working with children can be very tiring, that’s why volunteers need to be self-motivated and full of energy! Volunteers joining the project should have at least an intermediate level of spoken English. All volunteers will need to have their criminal background checked.

Location

Projects are available in various towns including in county Tipperary, Kerry, Clare and Cork (we cannot guarantee specific locations).

Example of locations:

Clonmel town is a busy town that provides shopping and various services for people of the surrounding rural area. It has a population of about 18,000 people. It is located 2 ½ hours from the capital city Dublin and 1 ½ hours from Cork city. Clonmel is well served by bus and train services. The town is nestled in the Comeragh Mountains with the Knockmealdown Mountains to the South and legendary Slievenamon to the East. Hillwalking and cycling are popular local activities. There is always something happening in Clonmel, with frequent theatre, concerts, live music, art exhibitions and festivals.

Cork is Ireland’s second largest city. It is a vibrant and friendly place with a very lively city centre. There are many things to visit in the city including UCC campus or the English Market and many cultural events and festivals happening all throughout the year. The region around Cork is also worth exploring, with pretty coastal villages such as Kinsale and the impressive Wild Atlantic Way which runs along the coastline.