​Aldi Community Games – Job Vacancy – Volunteer Support Officer
The Volunteer Support Officer is responsible for providing administrative support for Community Games volunteers and head office in general. 

This is a new role created primarily due to the impact of Covid19 on volunteering and participation and the need to provide additional support to the volunteering infrastructure within Community Games as a result of the pandemic.   

Working Hours/Salary: 30 hours a week spread over 5 days with flexi-time (between 9:00 and 5:00) with 22 days holiday a year + public holidays.  Annual Salary – €28,000 full time (pro rata).  This is a 2 year-fixed contract (pending successful completion of a 6 month probation period).  Location: Athlone.

Community Games is an equal opportunities employer

Key Responsibilities

1. Provide support to our large network of volunteers and help with developing their Areas and act as the central contact person for all incoming queries on development and volunteer support
2. Manage the internal volunteer online management system and keep it updated with news/resources/training calendars etc.
3. Provide support to the volunteer IT helpdesk
4. Administer Garda Vetting requests (full training will be provided)  
5. Help organise largescale events in conjunction with the Events Manager such as our National Festivals, AGM’s etc.
6. Assist with developing and executing various ongoing and new projects such as Women in Sport, Erasmus
7. Identify and develop other systems and processes identified as needs arise
8. Provide additional ad hoc support as requested by the CEO

 
Person Specification
This role will suit an individual with excellent organisation skills who has previous administrative experience in a busy office environment. The individual will also need excellent skills in building relationships and be a good communicator and be able to think on their feet.
 
Essential experience and competencies

• Experience in office administration
• Excellent organisational skills with proven attention to detail
• Experience of taking minutes at large meetings
• Ability to build positive relationship with a variety of people from different backgrounds
• Experience of managing multiple stakeholders with diverse interests and priorities
• Diplomacy and negotiation skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Ability to manage conflicts constructively
• Experience of providing logistical support, e.g. arranging meetings, venues, catering etc.
• Excellent phone and email manner
• Competent use of Microsoft Office suite of products including Outlook, Word and Excel
• Ability to work on both own initiative and as part of a team
• Knowledge of the community and voluntary sector

• Experience of working with partnerships

 
Please send your CV along with a cover letter to recruitment@communitygames.eu before Thursday 10h June at 5pm.  
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NB: After shortlisting there may be a requirement to prepare a presentation as part of the interview process. 

​The 50th Community Games National AGM was held virtually via Zoom on the 29th May 2021.
 
President's Address: 

"It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our 50th Annual General Meeting.  It also gives me the pleasure of welcoming you all to the first online AGM of Community Games. 

"The last 15 months have borne truth to the words of Oliver Goldsmith; “life is a journey that must be travelled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations”.

When we parted company in Sligo last year after a successful AGM with frank exchanges, none of us could have envisioned what lay ahead. Unfortunately, to date we are still living with Covid-19 restrictions. Though, with apologies to Goldsmith, the road is starting to become wider and less uneven and the accommodations are improving all the time. 

A week after the AGM we had to take the unprecedented step, like many NGBs, to innovate our offering.  Our focus was on those we loved, those within our families and communities who worked in frontline services.  Keeping them safe, keeping ourselves safe and looking after the vulnerable in our communities. 

I am proud of the fact that Aldi Community Games reinvented itself to give something to those children who suddenly found themselves out of school and isolated from their friends. We introduced online challenges and activities that became very popular and brought Community Games to a wider audience.  This was down to the hard work of our Volunteer led Committees, David and staff who took on a tremendous novel workload with enthusiasm and it was great to see the amount of children who took part in the various challenges and took part in our online festivals.

The decision to open the competition to all entries was the correct one.  2020 was a year for us all to be in this together and offering our activities to all young people, regardless of where they lived, showed that the community spirit of Community Games is still the most important part of this organisation.  

All of this has helped to keep us increase our  brand awareness and stay relevant, in a way that many NGBs were unable to.  That is down to the diversity of events we cover which allows us to tailor some of them for the online platform.  It is also down to each Area, County, Provincial Committee and volunteer who posted and shared our events, videos and pictures across various social media platforms.  I would like to give special mention to the Christmas Choir, it brought out the best in this organisation and it was great to see so many entries and such a brilliant production and well done to all involved, particularly the stars, the children.

2020 was an exceptionally challenging year organisationally but as you can see with the hard work of the Board of Directors, Committees, CEO and staff the situation has much improved. Much work is left to be done but I can categorically assure you that it will continue and the Board, Committees and Staff take seriously the trust you have placed in us as the caretakers of your organisation.

Looking back at 2020, it has not just been a lost year in many ways, but a year of loss.Many here today have lost loved ones.  The Community Games family wasn’t able to rally around as it usually would.  Your families were however always in our thoughts and prayers and I express my deepest sympathy on my behalf and on behalf of the organisation.
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As a governing body we also lost previous Chairman, Brian McManus and in 2021 former President, Michael Curley.  Both dedicated themselves to Community Games over many decades and are a huge loss to their families and to us as an organisation.
We also lost our Deputy President, Tony Lee. Tony’s loss was felt keenly as he was as active as ever and was an ever present force at our virtual board meetings. A man dedicated to what he believed in was right for Community Games he was always available for advice. To his family I extend our deepest condolences.  I also know he is missed by many in this organisation but he has left an indelible stamp on all of us who had honour of working with him. 

At Area , County, Provincial and Committee level we lost several active Community Games Volunteers who were invaluable to our organisation over the years we extend our deepest sympathies. 

As we look forward to 2021 it will be a challenging year as well.  We are running a different type of Festival with a virtual festival Festival in June and reduced physical programme later in the year.  I want to thank all those volunteers who have got their Areas and Counties up and running and involved.  Without you this would not be possible. 

I would like to thank our title sponsors Aldi for their continued commitment to Community Games and how they supported our events throughout the year. We were delighted to welcome Bus Eireann and TFI as partners to Community Games during 2020 and we appreciate the support they have given the organisation.

I would like to thank Sport Ireland for their continued support throughout the last year. In 2020 they provided additional funding to support both NGB’s and their Club affiliates which we are very grateful for. They have also provided resources for training which has been invaluable to Board members and Staff.

I want to thank my fellow Board members and the members of the various committees for their hard work and support over the last year.  To David and the staff I want to express special thanks.  We are lucky to have a dedicated CEO and staff who work incredibly hard for this organisation. 

I want to thank you for placing your faith in me to lead the organisation. 

As this has been an unusual year, as I finish, I want to express publically my thanks to those within all our communities who have been at the frontline so that we could all keep ourselves safe.  They are part of every community in Ireland and many are part of our Community Games areas as volunteers or past participants.

So to the doctors, nurses, carers, health support staff, Gardai, shop workers and other staff within many services who kept the country running and looked after the sick and vulnerable, on behalf of Community Games I say thank you.  For 2020 I think they are the Community Games heroes.

To end on another quote, this time from Amiel - “Life is short and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are travelling the dark journey with us. Oh be swift to love, make haste to be kind.” 

I think it is very suitable quote as we finally work towards the end of this pandemic and I look forward to us returning to meeting and chatting in person with all the volunteers who make this the great organisation it is."
Gerry McGuinness, President Community Games

50 Community Games Areas/Counties have now received Club Resilience funding, to a total amount of €58,000. 

Delivered by Sport Ireland, the fund's goal is to provide financial support to Clubs/Areas post COVID-19.

Eligible Areas were invited to apply for funding  in the last half of the year. In order to be considered for funding, applicants had to have met a series of criteria and conditions set out by Sport Ireland, which were designed to assist affiliated clubs most in need of financial supports.

Community Games greatly appreciates these vital supports awarded to their Areas/Counties in a time of need. 

Dear Member,

I wish to advise that the 50th Annual General Meeting of  Community Games CLG will take place virtually via Zoom on May 29th 2021 at 12 noon.

All Company Members are entitled to attend the AGM. Each County may select three Company Members as delegates to the Virtual AGM. One of these members must be the County member of the National Executive Advisory Committee for 2020.
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Nominations will be done via the On Line Registration System (ORS).  Closing date for the nominations is 28th April.  There will not be any Motions or Recommendations for discussion at this year’s AGM.
  
Thank you for your co-operation.
  
Yours sincerely,
  
Shirley Maloney
Company Secretary
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It is with deep regret that I inform you of the untimely passing of our esteemed Deputy President, Tony Lee.  Our sincere and heartfelt condolences to all his family and his wide circle of friends and Community Games family.
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Tony Lee was an integral and valuable Board member for over a decade and a volunteer at grass roots level for over 40 years.  His hard work, devotion and commitment to Community Games was outstanding and he will be missed the length and breadth of the country but most of all in his native Galway Community Games.
 
Tony was a great friend and an engaging and dedicated Board Member.   He was never too busy to help or advise, and his counsel was always very sound and well founded. He was a charming man and had a great enthusiasm for community and family and an incomparable knowledge of all things Community Games. 

 Ar dheis de go raibh a anam dilis.
 
Gerry McGuinness
 
President
Aldi Community Games 

Well done to all our winners at the Active Communities Event in August.  Fantastic to see every county represented from the thousand entries we received from both our Creative and Active Communities Events! 

Everyone who took part receives a Digital Certificate.

Well done to everyone who took part in our Move competition as part of our Active Communities Event!  In total collectively we ran/walked  15,433 virtual "Laps" of the UL Track or 6,173km!

We gave away €50 Aldi Vouchers each day to one lucky winner, see our list of winners below : 

• Brian Sheedy 
• Cian McLoughlin
• Liz Twomey
• Isabelle Browne
• Sheetal Utekar
• James Gregan
• Juthika Bathka
• Lisa Donoghue
• Moira Horgan 
• Lorraine Broderick
• Mary Durkan 
• EllenMcGinnitty
• Sinead O Leary
• Aleida Soto
• Sidra Tul Muntaha Muntaha
• Orla Conneely

Take a bow everyone and keep your eyes on your inbox over the next week or so as we will be sending out Digital Certificates to everyone who take part!

Great to see everyone staying in the games and keeping active!

Yours in sport

Gerry McGuinness
President 
Aldi Community Games

Aldi Community Games wish to congratulate everyone who came together while also staying apart by taking part in our recent ‘Creative Communities’ events which took place from May 15th to May 29th. We had a huge response to our appeal to all of the children and adults in Ireland to get creative with nearly 2000 fantastic entries flooding in.

Winners of each event were announced on our Facebook page last Sunday and each winner will receive a special commemorative medal. Everyone who entered will receive a digital certificate which can be framed and kept forever. There were lots of prizes handed out by our partners Aldi Ireland and Bus Éireann throughout the competition and lots of encouragement and engagement from Síle Seoige who helped us launch the competitions.

Overall this was a huge success with over 1 million people reached through our Facebook posts alone which allowed everyone to stay creative and most importantly “stay in the games”.

As Covid 19 restrictions still remain in place in Ireland and plans for mass gatherings still a distance away, we must inform you now that the August Festival in UL will not be taking place this year. This also extends to all Community Games events at Area, County and Provincial which will need to remain on hold for the foreseeable future. This is disappointing news for our participants, families, communities and volunteers but as always the safety of everyone connected to Community Games and their extended families is our key concern at all times.

While we cannot come together yet in a physical manner, the ‘Creative Communities’ competitions have demonstrated we can come together virtually and with that in mind, we are now working on exciting new plans for August which will showcase activity. Therefore, we are delighted to let you know a new online ‘Active Communities’ event with a host of activity based competitions will take place in August. Please do keep an eye out on our social media channels and our website for updates.
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For now, please continue to follow the Government and HSE guidelines in relation to Covid 19 and we encourage you to remain healthy and active both physically and mentally as much as you can.