Together for Better Project 2022-2023
With the support of The Community Integration Fund and The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Dublin City Volunteer Centre is partnering with the Jesuit Refugee Services (JRS) on the Together for Better project. Together for Better invites newly arrived international protection applicants to volunteer alongside people from our Community Volunteers programme to connect and learn from each other while undertaking volunteering projects and activities.
Roughly once a month until June 2023, Community Volunteers will join volunteers from Balseskin Reception Centre for an outing or activity where the two groups can share cultural experiences and volunteer together. Bringing volunteers together from different communities is incredibly valuable in promoting understanding and integration across cultural lines.
Together for Better Activities
August 2022
Our first activity took place at our offices in Dublin City Centre on the 25th August. 20 Volunteers gathered, 10 Community Volunteers and 10 volunteers from Balseskin Reception Centre for a Cultural Exchange session. Individuals were grouped together a couple of times and provided with a Cultural Conversational Menu covering different topics like food, customs, language and folklore. The evening ended with a shared meal and more chats and laughter!
September 2022
We were delighted to be asked to help at the Dublin Fringe Festival in September. For a couple of evenings, a team of Together for Better volunteers helped guide people around the Botanic Gardens for the light installation piece Remnant Ecologies. The volunteers were also invited for an event training earlier in the week and got to share stories and wonderful food donated by the Ethiopian Restaurant Gursha.
November 2022
There was electricity in the air when our Together For Better group got together to help out with children’s activities for Día de Muertos Celebration (Festival of the Dead) at Balseskin Reception Centre on the 2nd November. The celebrations were followed by a fancy-dress party for the children, and when the kids party is on, the volunteers had some food together and got to know each other.
