July was a busy month for Serve the City. Urban Soul happened on the 7-11 of July and was a big success.  We had about 160 young people and their leaders involved in 17 service projects across the city, from Ringsend to Drumcondra to Crumlin. It gave us the opportunity to work with a wide variety of community leaders, including Dublin City Council, local churches, senior citizen centres, local schools, homeless shelters and law enforcement. The excitement and joy that we saw on the faces of Urban Soul participants and people in the community reminded us of the power of serving to transform individuals and communities alike.

(On a side note, camera crews were around at Urban Soul to film a short feature for Joe Duffy’s “Spirit Level” and will air this Sunday morning, 26 July.  If you miss it on Sunday, it should be available on the RTE website later.)

The following week, Serve the City mobilised about 35 people to do some much-needed painting in Newpark Comprehensive School in Blackrock.  Volunteers included parents of Newpark students, visiting volunteers from America, local church groups, and several people who signed up to serve through our partnership with Volunteer Centres Ireland .  Newpark School now has a newly painted staff room and RE room that we hope will brighten the day of both teachers and students when they return to the school in September!

Tags: partnerships, Summer, UrbanSoul, volunteers