volunteering – Swords Tidy Towns

By Ken Duffy

Swords Tidy Towns have been up and running for over twenty years now, in that time the face of Swords has changed dramatically. This change is due in no small part to the hard work put in by our volunteers over that twenty-year period who contributed their time and energy to that change. Many volunteers have passed through our doors in that time and many the long time friendships blossomed.

A town is much more than bricks and mortar, it’s the community that thrives within, they are its heart and soul, they breathe life into it, they give it it’s character. It is their willingness to volunteer and contribute to the betterment of their community that pushes our town forward.

Swords has come a long way since it was designated a litter black spot in 2003, today it is a 2024 national Gold Medal winner. This speaks volumes about the commitment of our Swords Tidy Towns volunteers, and the many other community volunteer organisations who strive to do their best for Swords.

Swords Tidy Towns waits with bated breath for this year’s National Tidy Towns medal results, did we or did we not once again achieve Gold Medal status. All we can do, is keep our fingers crossed.

Swords Tidy Towns offers a friendly welcome to new volunteers, a nice cuppa with biscuits and a chat after each Saturday morning work. We are very well taken care of by Willie and his wonderful team at the Old Schoolhouse.

We meet each Saturday at 10am in the car park of Cove & Co previously known as Colourtrend which is opposite the Swords Garda Station, we would love to see you there, just turn up. If you require any further info contact me Ken Duffy Chairperson on 0866008313.

On the evening of July 13th STT members and friends gathered in the Whiskey Room at the Old Schoolhouse to mark a very special milestone.

Matt Cullen, one of our founding members, has been a volunteer with several organisations for half a century. So this called for a special celebration.

On the night, Matt was presented with a customised tee shirt and a special poem, penned by our Chairman Ken Duffy. Fellow member, Georgy Hughes, baked and decorated an anniversary cake. A fun evening was had by all.

Matt has such a cheerful and positive attitude, despite his health challenges. He is an inspiration to us all.

The following is a summary of Matt’s impressive volunteering history.

Matt started volunteering in 1974. Fifty years ago, he joined the St Helena’s Community Association, Lakeglen, Finglas, Dublin11. He held various positions in his time there, such as; Public Relations Officer, Vice Chairman and he was the Treasurer for many of those years with the association, which he served from 1974 to 1996. When he moved to Swords in 1997 he did some
voluntary work in maintaining the entrance to Carlton Court and organizing occasional litter picking. In 2004, he helped in the forming of Swords Tidy Towns and has been an active volunteer for the last twenty years. In 2015, he was the winner of the All Ireland Volunteer of the Year Award, which Swords Tidy Towns kindly nominated him for, in recognition of all the hard work over the years.

He has volunteered with other organisations and groups over the last fifty years. In the 1970s to the 1980s he was chairman of the Dublin City Services Studio, which was an art group consisting of members who were ordinary working- class people who wanted to promote the arts at that level. Matt also became involved with the Irish Lung Fibrosis Association (ILFA), especially since 2013 after becoming very unwell with pulmonary fibrosis. He is a voluntary patient advocate for ILFA, he also is a leader of the Dublin Pulmonary Fibrosis Support Group and helps to fund raise for them by mainly given 50% of the proceeds from the sale of his paintings to ILFA.

Matt’s passion is to help patients living with pulmonary fibrosis or similar lung diseases. He joined the European Lung Foundation (ELF)- Pulmonary Fibrosis Patient Advisory Group (PF- PAG) three years ago, which is a group from several countries in the Europe. Over the last two years Matt and a few of the members worked on a Patient Supportive Guide, which is now available to patients with pulmonary fibrosis and it has recently been made available in 17
different languages. Also, he joined the (ELF) European Patient Ambassador Programme Patient Advisory Group (EPAP -PAG) in 2015 which is a group comprised of members from various countries throughout Europe. Matt helps to promote the programme and helps with the revision of it where appropriate.
Over the last ten years he has volunteered to help the Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI) as a patient in relation to medical students undergoing examinations. Finally, Matt has volunteered to take part in videos; exercises and yoga for pulmonary fibrosis patients and has taken part in presentations/talks, discussions on pulmonary fibrosis both in Ireland and in some countries in Europe.