Snippets about my first and current experiences with a list underneath of experiences in between.

Cork Simon Community

The first time I volunteered was with Cork Simon Community in 1990. Every Wednesday night a room was booked for a social club where members would play cards for packs of cigarettes. Members were mostly men, all looking for connection, a warm room, tea and biscuits and hopefully some nicotine to go home with, or to the doorstep they planned to spend the night.

CoderDojo Tramore

I had heard about CoderDojo in Cork and Waterford and thought it was a wonderful idea. Later at TweetUp in Kinsale, Co. Cork, I met CoderDojo’s co-founder Bill Liao who further inspired me to take action. I had considered actively looking for full time work but 2014 was my daughter’s Leaving Cert year, so I decided to defer until she had finished school. In the meantime I signed up as a CoderDojo Champion, created Social Media Channels and piggybacked on the Hour of Code Event in 2013 to launch the concept. Thanks to a few very enthusiastic people who attended the meeting at Tramore GAA on a rainy day, CoderDojo Tramore was founded.

After nearly 6 years managing CoderDojo Tramore, in November 2019, I handed the reigns of CoderDojo over to two capable new champions and decided to forgo any new volunteer opportunities in the pursuit of full time employment.

Volunteer Experience by Date