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Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups
Building Stronger Charities Nationwide
INSIDE:
Ryan Paetzold
On a bike across Africa
Insurance savings for
Carmichael Centre
Residents
Gardening time
GIY & The Royal
Horticultural Society of
Ireland
The Governance Code
Ryan Paetzold crosses the finish line in Cape Town 12,000 kms later!
DATE FOR YOUR DIARY
Carmichael Centre Free Forum
Employment Law: An Overview
Thursday 29th September 2011, 10.45am-1pm
Upcoming Conferences
& Events
Training and
Development
Programme
WORDS OF WISDOM
" Twenty years from now, you will be
more disappointed by the things you didn't
do than by the ones you did. So sail away
from the safe harbour, Explore, Dream,
Discover. " (Mark Twain)
Quarterly Newsletter—Summer 2011
Ryan Paetzold on a bike across Africa - it all looked good on paper
“4 months ago I set off on what I believed to be the adventure of a lifetime. Cycling from Cairo to Cape
Town, was I ever in for a surprise. What had looked well considered, reviewed and revised on paper was
a far cry from the experience I had.
Day 1: Setting off from the Pyramids – unbelievable!
How many people get the chance to cycle around the Great Pyramids of Giza - we had signed up for thrill
and excitement for 12000kms across a continent (the full tour). The pyramids metaphorically summed it
all up: a mammoth challenge. Over the next 120 days we were to traverse desert, grassland, forest,
mountains and whatever else presented itself. Sometimes good sometimes bad, it was certainly no plain
sailing. The early part was the gentle introduction with well paved roads and gently undulating terrain. We
certainly didn’t have too much difficulty at this early stage, the worst, a little taste of what summer in
these regions could bring. Sudan proved to be the warmest of our tour with temperatures well in excess
of 50 degrees Celsius. The water on your bike, a tea bag short of a cuppa making things more than a little
challenging.
Ethiopia began the test of more than just muscle, it
tested ones mettle. Fatigue and illness began to
take its toll. The beginning of some weird stomach
bug claimed many riders. Sometimes you would lay
in your tent at night and hear the wrenching
sounds of fellow riders emptying their stomachs,
sometimes so bad you felt sorry for them, wincing
in sympathy, not only because you couldn’t do a
thing, it just sounded so painful. You could almost
expect to find someone who had turned
themselves inside out. Whatever it was simply had
to work its way out of your system, for some over
in a few days others with the aid of anti-biotics.
For some it just lingered.
There were times when you questioned your sanity, days where you felt beat, when everything hurt and
you couldn’t have a shower, wet-wipes your only solace. Frailties and whining aside, we were presented
and immersed by spectacle and marvel. The Great Rift Valley and Blue Nile, sister mountains to
Kilimanjaro, Lake Malawi, the red dunes of Namibia, every turn something new, something unexpected,
something awesome. One thing became evident, this trip wasn’t going to generously give up breath taking
vistas – we had to work for them.
Sunrises and sunsets that took your breath away. Artificial like night skies, where the moonlight light left
you feeling interrogated by its intensity. The stars plentiful like sun streaming past the fibres of a woollen
blanket used to blot out the sun.
The ever changing smells of the vegetation, landscape and time of day, dawn so different from dusk,
dessert so different to savannah, people, the way we smelt not having showered for days
Deafening silence, so quiet your heartbeat made your ears ring like front row seats at a Rage Against the
Machine gig, nothing, not a sound, silence that you can’t replicate anywhere except there, there in the
desert. The dunes of the Sossusvlei offering the best snoozing spot under an acacia tree.
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The freedom of childhood, being on a bicycle for hours on
end, not a care in the world, your only curfew, be home
before sunset! You ate when you were hungry, you slept when
you wanted, napping under a tree wasn’t uncommon.
We met so many people too. People who were as interested
in us, as us in them. Sometimes called Firengi, Mzungu,
sometimes friend – whether you genuinely were or not, or
whether you were a walking supply of foreign money, local
money, a hand out, anything. A trend which unfortunately
followed us all the way south. Communication, well
communication is what we will call it, words sometimes
needed some assistance. English not being the first language
for many people we met, sometimes resorted to a charades
display of hand and facial gestures, sometimes pictograms in the sand to get a point across, or a question
asked – generally huge amounts of laughter ensued. Like everywhere we didn’t enjoy everyone’s
company and some places less so. We were often met with questions of where we were from and where
we were going. Telling someone, who would rarely travelled more than a few hundred kilometres from
their homestead in any given direction, where we had cycled from was met with vacant and
incomprehensible stares. You may as well have said you have travelled from the moon, the scale was just
too great, but narrow it down and say that you had travelled from the previous town, “no, no, that can’t
be. It’s too far for a bicycle”
Day 120: arrival in Cape Town
As brief as this account of the trip may seem, was as brief as this trip seemed. Before I could really blink it
was over. The welcome procession brought home just what we had accomplished. The last 100kms
seemed so short, the last 40km convoy together with many local cyclists out for their weekend ride
wasn’t really what we cycled daily as even a warm up – it sounds snobbish I know but that is how big this
trip was.
This trip I can definitely say was bigger than I could have expected, still now so soon after the trip, I
haven’t had time to digest all the photos, notes in my diary and thoughts in my head. Revisiting events
through reminders from comments and photos posted from fellow riders on Facebook brings back vivid
memories of a crazy dream come true.
Since I’ve been back and caught up with friends and
family I’ve been asked:
How does one start to cross a continent?
How do you do it day in and day out?
How do you sum it up?
These are questions I have answered in many
different ways, answers none so relevant as quotes
from friends on and off the trip.
“like eating an elephant, one bite at a time”
“gentle pressure relentlessly applied”
“tell your friends about it, suggest it to your
enemies”
*To see a daily photographic journal visit:
www.followthesunsouth.com
Ryan Paetzold’s Photographic Journal
http://www.followthesunsouth.com
Insurance savings for Carmichael Centre Residents
The Carmichael Centre are delighted to have agreed a new insurance scheme specifically for
resident members with BHP Insurance Brokers.
A number of Carmichael Centre residents have already arranged their insurances with BHP and
have achieved significant savings.
BHP have a 10 year track record of successfully delivering the most cost effective and innovative
solutions for specific sectors by leveraging their group purchasing power in the insurance
market. In this regard, BHP are widely considered to be the leading insurance broker for
Voluntary, Charitable and Not for Profit affiliated groups.
If you would like to discuss this facility further, or to receive a quotation, please contact
Suzann Guinee at BHP on direct dial 01 6202030.
Social Enterprise Initiative Online
People of the Year Awards 2011
SocialEnterprise.ie is an online space where people
and organisations interested in social enterprise in
Ireland can network, collaborate and share
information and experiences. WINSENT (Wales
Ireland Network for Social Entrepreneurship) are
now the new administrators of the website and
network from 1 June 2011.One of the
recommendations of the SETF Manifesto was to
develop a coherent social enterprise sector,
including building a constituency of social
enterprises and for those interested in the sector.
The establishment of SocialEnterprise.ie forms a key
part of this initiative.
Who is your Person of the Year?
Nominate those who inspire! The
People of the Year Awards, now in its
37th year, is seeking nominations for
this year’s Awards. Each year, the
Awards seek to honour those who
have made a real difference in
people’s lives, whether they be
unsung heroes or household names.
Do you know someone whose
achievements are inspiring and whose
contribution to society deserves
recognition?
For more information, please log on to:
www.socialenterprise.ie
For more information on the Awards,
log on to www.peopleoftheyear.com
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http://twitter.com/CCVoluntaryOrgs
Follow Tanguy de Toulgoet and Dunmore Country School
at http://www.dunmorecountryschool.ie
Gardening Courses
Attending a class or course can be an effective way to develop skills and learn more about
gardening. There are many opportunities to work in horticulture, as well as different courses on
offer throughout Ireland to learn more gardening.
Qualifax has information on horticulture related courses throughout the country
www.qualifax.ie.
Teagasc has information on nationally accredited courses www.teagasc.ie
FAS have a range of classes available as well as providing careers advice
The Cultivate Centre in Dublin run a wide range of courses including gardening
www.cultivate.ie.
The Organic Centre in Rossinver, Co.Leitrim put on interesting weekend courses and
workshops www.theorganiccentre.ie/course_programme.
The Organic College An tIonad Glas. This is a small college of about 60 students situated
in the town of Dromcollogher, Co. Limerick, Ireland, dedicated to providing quality courses in
organic growing and sustainability www.organiccollege.com.
Sonairte, the National Ecology Centre in Co. Meath have courses running throughout the
year www.sonairte.ie.
Dunmore Country School runs one day and half day organic gardening courses in Durrow
Co Laois www.dunmorecountryschool.ie.
The Royal Horticultural Society of
Ireland
This is a member-led society, Charity
dedicated to promoting the knowledge, skill
and practice of horticulture,
arboriculture and floral art.
GIY is a charity which aims to inspire people to grow For more information please see:
their own food and give them the skills they need to
www.rhsi.ie
do so successfully.
GIY do this by getting GIYers together online and in
National Botanic Gardens
community groups around Ireland so that they can
Its purpose is to explore, understand,
learn from each other and exchange tips, ideas and
conserve, and share the importance of
produce. GIY meetings and membership are free and plants as well as make it a place where
open to people interested in food growing at all
leisure, recreation and education are all
levels, i.e. from growing a few herbs on the balcony to compatible for the enjoyment of visitors.
complete self-sufficiency, from beginners to old hands.
For more information please see:
For more information please see: www.giyireland.com www.botanicgardens.ie
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The Governance Code
All community, voluntary and charitable organisations are responsible for applying good and
transparent governance in their organisations. The Governance Code available online at
www.governancecode.ie gives directions on how to avoid or minimise risk, run a not-for-profit
organisation effectively and in a way that can appeal to current and potential funders.
The Governance Code recognises the need for proportionality to be considered when running
an organisation. As such the code distinguishes between four different types of organisations,
namely:
'All volunteer' organisations
'Emergent' organisations
'Established' organisations
'Complex' organisations
The Code has been designed to provide implementation guidelines that take into consideration
the characteristics typical of each of the four types of organisation above. Board’s can therefore
prioritise what their respective organisations need to focus on from a governance perspective.
The Governance Code for Community and Voluntary Organisations in Ireland is brought to the
sector by:
Boardmatch Ireland, Business in the Community Ireland, Carmichael Centre for Voluntary
Groups, Clann Credo, ICTR, Disability Federation of Ireland, Volunteer Centres Ireland,
The Wheel, Corporate Governance Association of Ireland, Sheila Cahill Consulting, Arthur Cox.
Learn more about the Governance Code and in particular the implementation guidelines at:
www.governancecode.ie.
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Carmichael Centre News in Brief
Carmichael Centre Fora
Carmichael Centre will run a series of free
fora in Autumn 2011 including:
29 Sep: Employment Law: An Overview
18 Oct: Advocacy & Lobbying for your
Organisation
Though fora are free to attend, prior
booking is required. Telephone Derek or
Caroline on 01-8735285 for further
details
Meeting Rooms in Dublin 7
We have added an online enquiry form to
our website to help you with booking
meeting rooms and catering in Carmichael
Centre.
You can access the form at:
www.carmichaelcentre.ie/content/meetingrooms-enquiry-form.
Training and Development Programme
General Access Courses available during 2011:
Balancing the Roles of Chair
and Chief Executive
Sep 13
Effective Meetings & Minutes
Sep 20
Developing a Strategic Plan
Sep 27
Demystifying the Treasurer’s
Role
Oct 4
Social Media, Blogs and
Newsletters
Oct 11
Establishing your Community
Group
Oct 20
Customised Training
Carmichael Centre delivers customised training and
seminars for individual organisations and networks
throughout the country. Topic areas include:
Governance & Leadership, Planning & Quality,
Managing People, Communications &
Promotion and Managing Money & Resources.
Contact us to discuss training needs in your
organisation or locality.
Carmichael Centre for Voluntary Groups has
become the first organisation in Ireland to
receive the highly recognised quality award
PQASSO. Derek O’Reilly is a PQASSO
Mentor, trained and licenced by Charities Evaluation
Services and he is available to introduce PQASSO to
your organisation and provide mentoring as needed
through the PQASSO self-evaluation process. For
further information please contact Derek via email at
[email protected] or tel. 1-8735282.
Follow Carmichael Centre on the Web
http://www.carmichaelcentre.ie