Lord Mayor Community and Voluntary Awardees: Social Services, Charities & Environment

People making a difference in their communities in Cork are set to be recognised at this year’s Cork City Lord Mayor Community and Voluntary Awards.

Organisations promoting social inclusion, advocacy, health and wellbeing, arts and culture, sustainable development and community development have been shortlisted for the awards which will take place at the Concert Hall in City Hall on Wednesday, April 10.

Nominees will be recognised under six different categories including Community Development and Continuing Education; Social Services, Charities and Environment; Social Inclusion, Advocacy and Integration; Climate Action and Sustainable Development; Recreation, Sport, Health and Wellbeing; and Arts Culture Recreation and Heritage, with the overall winner announced on the night.

Those shortlisted under the Social Services, Charities & Environment category of the awards include Good Shepherd Cork, SOFT Ireland and SHARE Cork.

Good Shepherd Cork

Good Shepherd Cork works with women, children and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness by providing emergency, short-term and long-term accommodation and a range of practical, therapeutic and educational supports to assist service users in dealing with and moving on from issues that can bring them into homelessness.

Good Shepherd welcomes people of all backgrounds, ages, and stages of life and its work is grounded in its belief in social justice and equality.

Founded over 50 years ago when a small seed was planted by Sr Colette Hickey, who is 106 years old and is still very interested in the work of Good Shepherd, the organisation worked with over 1,000 women and children last year.

Mission Leader Sr Jane Murphy said all at Good Shepherd are “delighted” to be nominated for the award and described it as “a privilege and an opportunity” to let the people of Cork know about their work.

Speaking about the importance of Good Shepherd’s work, Sr Murphy said: “Building a trusting relationship with every woman and child is central to what we are about. Our mission is to support women, children and families who are vulnerable to homelessness to live more empowered, fulfilled and self-sufficient lives.

“We are an organisation that wants to get things done - not from any personal ambition on our part, but from a huge professional ambition, to get things done for the people of Cork, particularly the women and children of Cork who are, have been, or at risk of becoming homeless.

“I believe we do the very good work we do because we have a really firm foundation - a strong ethos across all our services of respecting and valuing every individual and a really terrific, committed, skilled staff team supported by many volunteers, who most importantly live that ethos.

“We want to acknowledge and appreciate the very many women and children that have stayed with us over the past 50 years. We have often seen people traumatised and very distressed when they first come to us. But we salute these mothers, and sometimes fathers, whose courage and determination to overcome barriers to make a better life for themselves and their families, is a constant inspiration.”

SOFT Ireland

SOFT Ireland is a voluntary group dedicated to providing support, assistance and information for families of children diagnosed and born with Patau’s Syndrome (Trisomy 13) and Edwards’ Syndrome (Trisomy 18).

Babies born with these syndromes often have serious life-threatening conditions with developmental delay and a limited life expectancy and support is provided by SOFT Ireland during prenatal diagnosis, during the child’s life and after the child’s passing.

Martina O'Reilly of SOFT Ireland said: “Babies have been born with Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18 since the beginning of time, but it was only in the 1960s that Dr Patau and Dr Edwards identified the respective features of these syndromes. Both syndromes are the result of an extra 13th or 18th chromosome, respectively, being present in each cell of the body.

“The incidence of Trisomy 13 is about 1 in 10,000 of total births while that of Trisomy 18 is about 1 in 6000 of total births. As the female X chromosome is more viable there are more girls born than boys.” Ms O’Reilly said the team is delighted to be recognised for their work and shortlisted for this year’s Community and Voluntary Awards.

“As a small group with limited funding, it is difficult to raise awareness about the services we provide to families at such a tragic time in their lives,” she said.

“Our single aim as parents who ourselves have lost babies is to ensure no parent has to endure this life-changing heartbreak on their own.

“A beautiful quotation from Thomas Jefferson sums up our ethos ‘who then can so softly bind up the wound of another as he who has felt the same wound himself’.” 

Ms O’Reilly said the team is made up of volunteers who support those who have been affected by Edwards or Patau's Syndromes.

She said that they all share one common bond having walked in the shoes of the families they support, with many families helped by SOFT returning as volunteers.

SHARE Cork

Also nominated under the Social Services, Charities & Environment category of the awards is SHARE, a registered charity founded in 1970 by students from Presentation Brothers College, Cork who raised funds to try and make existing housing for Cork city’s vulnerable elderly more comfortable.

One of the most well-known elements of the charity’s fundraising over the past 50 years is the SHARE Christmas campaign which includes the annual 24-hour fast and the blessing of the crib in the city.

It has become a tradition of the festive season in Cork and the crib is staffed by students right up until Christmas Eve to encourage people to donate to the worthy cause.

Since its foundation, SHARE has provided a unique link between students and the elderly.

It has created a blueprint for positive engagement between students and the elderly community, which has spread nationally and internationally.

Chairperson Andrew Maume said: 

“We wanted to take a moment to thank the people of Cork for their ongoing generosity, which allows SHARE to do what we do, and to the Lord Mayor Councillor Kieran McCarthy for his outstanding support of SHARE."

Since its inception, SHARE has tackled the housing crisis for the particularly vulnerable elderly people of Cork city.

Evolving over the last 50 years, the organisation runs 140 homes in the area across seven different locations.

“Students visit these homes on a weekly basis, offering much sought-after social engagement. In addition to this, the Brother Jerome Day Care Centre caters for up to 125 clients each week, offering a social environment, hot meals, fun and activities,” Mr Maume said.

“SHARE also provides medical and social support through its Day Centre on a daily basis Monday - Friday, which involves an activity coordinator and support staff, in conjunction with the HSE. The Day Centre is used by elderly citizens from across the city of Cork.” 

The award ceremony will take place on Wednesday, April 10 where the overall winner will be revealed.