‘As GAA people we get far more out of the GAA than we put into it,’ says Secretary
SLIGO GAA has clocked up 248,944 volunteer hours so far this year and is a shining example of how volunteering in the county works so well.
The stalwart organisation had a stand at the Volunteering/ Sligo Cultural Exhibition at the European Parliament last week. Secretary Gerry O’Connor explained: “People have come to our stand and the figure is surprising to them. All of our 26 clubs estimated their hours in one calendar year. We are primarily based on volunteers. We have only a handful of full time staff.”
Gerry stressed that those volunteers ‘do not want praise because they enjoy what they do.’
“As GAA people we get far more out of the GAA than we put into it. There is great satisfaction in training,” he said.
Sligo GAA Assistant Treasurer Ted Maloney was representing Martin Seery at the event.
He said: “Martin was one of the first people to get Ladies Football underway in Sligo almost 25 years ago and has been involved at every level ever since. We call him the memory man as he can remember every score from any match!”
Ted explained that Ladies football has grown to more than 2,000 registered members in Sligo and that is largely down to the hard work of Martin Seery.
Another sport under the spotlight in Brussels was surfing. The Sligo Surf Club also had an information stand. Member Jessie Smith represented the club and spoke of her volunteering efforts at the Volunteering Seminar.
She said: “A group of about 14 parents in Strandhill started ‘ the hour of power’ initiative with the purpose of getting more children into surfing. Strandhill has a bad reputation for water safety but if the water is used properly and surfing is promoted, this can be seen as a positive.
“Every Sunday we provide free surf lessons for club members. We had 15 people on the first day. By week two we had to cap our numbers at 150 and we still have a waiting list.”