A Week of Volunteering at Localise

Hi everyone! It’s Geet here, and I’m a member of Castleknock Localise. I’m currently in TY, and for one of my work experience weeks I chose to complete it with Localise alongside two of my friends, Sophie and Clodagh. It was honestly one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, so let me tell you all about it!

Our first day was a busy but really rewarding one. Sophie, Clodagh and I were given the task of wiping and resetting tablets that had been generously donated by Endotronix. Endotronix produces medical chips for patients with Level 2 and Level 3 heart disease. Although the tablets were no longer suitable for their patients, they were still in perfect condition for everyday use.

These devices were being prepared for unaccompanied minors involved in the YES (Youth and Education Service) programme. YES works with young people from refugee and migrant backgrounds, particularly those who have arrived in Ireland without a parent or guardian. The tablets will allow these young people to stay connected with their families and loved ones back home, which is incredibly important.

After preparing the tablets, we headed to Omni Shopping Centre to purchase backpacks for the same group of minors. Castleknock Localise donated around 40 bags to support this initiative. Through this experience, I realised just how much work goes on behind the scenes in volunteering. While people often see the meetings or donation days, there is so much organisation, preparation and dedication happening in the background.

Day 2 was… hectic, to say the least.

We arrived at the office at 9:30 a.m. and immediately began setting up the community space for a special event with MacEwan University and Youth Empowerment Society (YES). Students from MacEwan had travelled all the way from Canada to connect with the minors at YES, offering guidance on building strong CVs, preparing for interviews, and developing other essential career skills.

The day was filled with energy, fun games, plenty of laughter, and meaningful conversations as everyone got to know one another better. We swapped stories about our favourite foods and music (a lot of Justin Bieber, no surprise there, Canadians.), and simply enjoyed the chance to connect across cultures.

After sharing lunch together, we played a crowd-favourite game of “Pass the Parcel” 

Sophie, Clodagh and I had a very fun game of Uno, No Mercy. Clodagh got very lucky when we had to wrap it up just when she had to pick up around 40-50 cards.

We ended the day by saying goodbye to the McEwan students and the minors from YES and then cleaning up the community space.

Day 3 was a calmer one, we headed over to the YES school to do a handover of the bags.

We then headed over to Eddie Rockets, where Cat kindly bought us lunch and it was delicious! (Thanks Cat!)

We headed back to the office and I was in charge of making a quiz for the next day and that was it!

Day 4 was a relaxed and enjoyable one. When we arrived at the office, Clodagh immediately got to work editing her brilliant video of our week so far. Meanwhile, Sophie and I spent some time joking around, but don’t worry, we made sure to get our work done too! We blew up some sunflower balloons for these members.

Later, we headed over to Leo’s Street to spend time with some of the older members of the community. We ran a fun quiz that I had prepared the day before, and everyone really got involved. Overall, it was a lovely day filled with laughter, connection, and a great atmosphere.

This was also Sophie’s last day as she is heading to Spain the next day. (Bye Sophie!)

Day 5 (Today) has been very chill so far. Our event with the Mater Hospital unfortunately got cancelled because of the weather. So instead Clodagh went back to editing and I got to write this wonderful blog! We don’t have anything planned for the rest of the day so my last day here has been a nice and calm one. We’re about to head to lunch. (Lunch was lovely) I have had an amazing week with Localise and I would like to thank Cat and the team for making it so wonderful. I would definitely want to come back .(if they’d have me!) But that’s it from me!

Thanks for reading and have a lovely day.

Geet Agrawal