Galway Volunteer Centre held the first in-person recruitment fair at Leisureland in Salthill since 2020 when COVID-19 swept the country.

The event was held from 2pm to 5pm on Sunday, with around 60 organisations from a variety of sectors taking part.

Donncha Foley, manager of Galway Volunteer Centre, said he was surprised by the footfall of the event. 

“We expected it to be busy, but we didn’t expect it to be this busy,” said Mr Foley, stating that there were about 1500 attendees.

“It’s amazing. I’m delighted. I’m really surprised. We put a lot of effort into promoting it.”

He said that Leisureland was selected as the venue because it is a place frequented by the public. “It’s a venue that people normally come in to go to swim or for fitness. People know where it is and they can just walk in and come straight into the room.”

Jenny Cunningham, administrator of Green Sod Ireland, an environmental organisation in land protection, said the event was “excellent”.

“It’s absolutely inspiring to see so many people interested in trying to help the planet,” said Ms Cunningham, who described the event as attracting a “great crowd”.

The impact of COVID-19

Staff from other organisations at the event said that the pandemic made recruiting work difficult. According to Carol Hynes, a fundraiser from homelessness charity Galway Simon Community, its impact persists even now.

Ms Hynes described the challenges of recruiting during and after the pandemic, saying, “ … it’s still quite difficult. People are still only beginning to come back out there again. It has been very difficult”.

Although she wasn’t sure what number of prospective members would continue working with her organisation out of approximately 100 candidates, she still felt optimistic about the situation.

“ … Certainly (the event) worked well. We really hope that we will at least maybe get 10 to 15 volunteers that will actually volunteer for us”, she said, adding that “it’s been fantastic”.

Mr Foley said they hope to host two such events every year, with one in February and one in September.