My last day at work...

I finished up at work today for 2 years. Even though VSO is one of the most exciting things I will ever do, it was heartbreaking to leave my library girlies.... This is Suzanne, Rachel, Sandra, Bairbre and Aidin. Clearly Marian was the only doing any work that day...

A bit more fundraising...

I did my final bit of fundraising in ITB today - for the library itself. It costs an average of 3euro for a book for a library in Africa, so I gathered 3euro donations. Each person who made a donation wrote their name on a little replicia book and added it to the book shelf. And we filled the shelf. Hopefully, at some stage in the future I can add photos of the real book shelves to this site. This is Suzanne helping out...
Everyone was very generous and we raised 971euro... thanks to all the staff and students who contributed...

Cork (mini) mini marathon...

Mam, Nor & I did the Cork womens' mini marathon on Sunday to raise some funds for VSO. It was great fun! There were over 10,000 participants, including a suspiciously high amount of testosterone... I didnt realise quite how much Cork fellas like their little back dresses... or how good their legs look in them - damn them all!
Anyway, we completed the epic journey of 5 miles in 1 hr 27 (!) and collected our medals with pride...

ITB Volunteer Action Fund...

The ITB VAF (Institute of Technology Blanchardstown Volunteer Action Fund) have made an incredible donation of €800 to my fundraising efforts....

The organisation was established in January 2005 after the tsunami disaster. Their aim was to help people to volunteer their time to travel to areas of the world that have suffered due to natural disasters and to help along side other Aid agencies with the rebuilding and relief efforts.

This summer they travelled to Thailand and worked in constructing homes and at a local orphanage. I hope to be able to add some photos of their work (& leisure time, if I'm allowed!) to the site at some stage.

I am really grateful for their generosity, and I know that VSO will put the money to great use...

You can find more info on ITBVAF at: http://www.itbvaf.com

Farewell Harborne...

I had my last training session at Harborne Hall last week which was very sad... but it was my SKWID course which was great!
For you non-VSOs out there - SKWID is "Skills for Working in Development" and involves loads of role play & games, and is alot of fun...
Anyway, farewell to Birmingham - I miss the Bullring already...