Volunteers hailed as McVerry trust takes the plaudits

THE IRISH TIMES LIVING DUBLIN AWARDS:THE SPIRIT of volunteerism has helped to make Dublin a "jewel in the crown of European cities", the city's lord mayor has said.

Cllr Emer Costello said the winners of The Irish TimesLiving Dublin Awards were not only contributing to their communities but to the city as a whole.

“The big winner is the wonderful city of Dublin,” she said at the awards ceremony in TCD’s Science Gallery on Tuesday night.

The awards, now in their 15th year, celebrate groups, individuals and businesses working to improve the city. They are run by the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, supported by Covanta Energy and Dublin City Council. Ms Costello is the chair of the judging panel.

The overall winner was The Peter McVerry Trust set up in 1979 by the Jesuit priest who has been a tireless campaigners for the homeless and for drug addicts.

The trust also won in the community development category.

Commended in the same category was the “A” District Senior Citizens’ Holiday Fund begun in 1985 which sees a committee of gardaí and nurses taking senior citizens from the Dublin 8 area on foreign holidays.

Also commended was RADE (Recovery through arts, drama and education) which was set up in August 2004 as a high-quality arts project located near St Patrick’s Cathedral. It helps retrain drug users in arts activities to help them progress into employment, further education and training.

The Robert Emmet CDP Community Garden project in the Oliver Bond and Bridgefoot Street area of Dublin’s southwest inner city received the other commendation in the category.

The Street Performance World Championships won in the culture section award. The organisers of Dublin’s Culture Night, which took place on September 25th, and the Monster Truck Gallery and Studios on Francis Street, which gives emerging artists a chance to exhibit and subsidised studio space, were commended.

So too were the team behind the restoration of St Stephen’s Church, better known as the Pepper Canister Church in Mount Street Crescent. They hope to make it a concert venue with some of the best acoustics in the country.

The Walkinstown Association Garden Project, which provides a free garden-maintenance service to older people in the area, won in the Dublin city neighbourhoods category. The redecoration of the Charlemont Court Older Persons Unit was commended, as was Scoil Chiaráin Glasnevin’s gardening project which has been running since 2006.

The aim of that project is for students to develop an appreciation of nature and the surrounding environment.

KPMG’s Get Cents programme was the overall winner in the business in the community award. To date it has given 40 people in the North Wall area advice on topics such as saving, personal budgeting and banking.

Commendations were given to brewing giant Diageo for its partnership with the D8 Community Education Centre (CEC) in collating stories about the Guinness brewery at St James’s Gate which celebrated its 250th anniversary this year.

Also commended was the Intel Digital Health Group for its work with the Stoneybatter Citizens Outreach Project. The group has been putting together a directory of services for older people in the area. It is intended to be a user-friendly guide to help older people link in with many local services.

The Irish Timesdeputy managing director Liam Kavanagh said the awards were clear proof that the "spirit of volunteerism" was alive and well in Dublin and the newspaper was delighted to be associated with them.