News & Events

The Irish Stammering Association (ISA) are a Carmichael resident organisation, and they are currently promoting an upcoming ‘ISA Walk and Talk’ event.

The Event 

The ‘Walk and Talk’ event is set to take place on Sunday February 20 at the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin 9.

The event poses a relaxing and informal opportunity for those who stammer their family and friends, or those with an interest in stammering to walk and talk as they make their way around the relaxing and beautiful gardens.

The gardens are noted for fine plant collections holding over 15,000 plant species from a variety of habitats worldwide, for award-winning plant houses, and for an array of garden features.

They plan to visit the gardens café after the walk for refreshments. The walk is open to all ages, although children under 16 should be accompanied by an adult. If you are interested in this event please register here – it is of course completely free to attend.

Who are the ISA?

The ISA are a charitable organisation providing information and support to people who stammer in Ireland. Stuttering, as it is also known, affects people of all ages and from all backgrounds. Parents, partners, friends and family can also be affected by stammering.

The ISA pride themselves as being the collective voice for a community, promoting an inclusive society that understands and accepts stammering. The core mission is raising awareness.

Indeed, The ISA are the nationally recognised organisation for people affected by stammering. They are committed to building and developing the stammering community, being the trusted source of reliable information, raising awareness and influencing policy.

They operate with five core values in mind at all times, they are; non-judgemental, person-centred, accountable, collaborative and empowerment.

Contact Details:

You can find out more details on their work here. They’re on social media, too. Check out their Facebook and Twitter here.

Carmichael is delivering free workshops for Board Members, Directors, Trustees, CEOs, Managers and anyone else involved in the preparation of Annual Reports for a nonprofit. This includes Companies Limited by Guarantee, Registered Charities, Unincorporated bodies, Social Enterprises and Sports Organisations. Each workshop covers the basics of what is required in an annual report and then focuses on how to use the annual report as a way of showing the public, your members and funders how good your organisation is. These workshops are aimed at smaller charities (annual income of less than €250,000) and, particularly, at charities with income of less than €50,000. Workshops will be delivered over Zoom. Email roisin@carmichaelireland.ie for more information. Sign up for a workshop here.

This programme is kindly sponsored by the Community Foundation for Ireland and Pobal.

New Podcast Episodes

Episode 15: Michael Wickham Moriarty gives insights to Trócaire’s award winning governance culture

In conversation with Michael Wickham Moriarty, the head of Corporate Services at Trócaire. Michael gives us an insight into Trócaire’s award winning governance culture and talks about how Trócaire is coping with Covid-19: https://soundcloud.com/user-982606224/michael-wickham-moriarty-gives-insights-to-trocaires-award-winning-governance-culture.

Episode 16: Coping with Covid-19 – The challenge for small charities as they provide much needed services

In episode 16, we speak with 3 small charities, Look Good Feel Better, FirstLight and Huntington’s Disease Association of Ireland about their Covid-19 challenges and how they are responding to maintain services to their clients. Listen at https://soundcloud.com/user-982606224/coping-with-covid-19-the-challenge-for-small-charities-as-they-provide-much-needed-services.

Carmichael in association with the local Volunteer Centres, are delivering a series of 25 workshops across the country on ‘Developing an Effective Annual Report’. The aim of this practical hands-on workshop is to understand the preparation of the Annual Report from the perspective of the Board Members, Directors, Trustees.

Each workshop covers the basics of what is required in an annual report and then focuses on how to use the annual report as a way of showing the public, your members and funders how good your organisation is. The session will involve presentations and working in groups. These workshops are aimed at smaller charities (annual income of less than €250,000), particularly, at charities with income of less than €50,000.

The workshops are free thanks to the support of Community Foundation Ireland and Pobal.

Below is the current schedule of workshops with details of dates, times locations and booking arrangements.

Workshop schedule

Carmichael have released another episode for in its Governance Podcast Series.

In our first podcast of 2020, Diarmaid Ó Corrbuí, Carmichael CEO talks with Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel about her work and the challenges which face the Charity and Voluntary Sector as Election 2020 draws nearer. Episode 8 is available on https://soundcloud.com/user-982606224/diarmaid-o-corrbui-with-deirdre-garvey-ceo-the-wheel.

All our previous Carmichael podcasts are available from most podcast platforms – Soundcloud, Apple, Spotify.

FirstLight – a long established, national charity providing professional crisis intervention and counselling services to parents and families suddenly bereaved is seeking to recruit a Clinical Services Director and Clinical Services Manager.

The Clinical Services Director will be based in FirstLight’s Offices (Carmichael Centre, 4 North Brunswick Street, Dublin 2), will be a member of the senior leadership team and will contribute both strategically and operationally to the overall success of the organisation by leading effectively on client clinical services.

The Clinical Services Manager will be located in a region outside Dublin and will support the Clinical Services Director and deputise for him/her when appropriate. The regional location will be influenced by the location of the preferred candidate.Both positions are 2-year contract positions: the Clinical Services Director position is for 32 hours (4 days) per week; the Clinical Services Manager position is for 24 hours (3 days) per week.

A strong understanding of and empathy with FirstLight’s mission and objectives is essential as is a values driven approach to work based on integrity and service.

For the full job description and application form, visit https://firstlight.ie/clinical-services-director-and-manager-positions/.

We really enjoyed talking to Jillian Van Turnhout in our 4th episode of Carmichael podcast on the topic of “when things go wrong in charities”. This episode follows on from previous topics which looked at the Annual Report, the Charities Governance Code and Risk Management. Here’s link to this episode. https://soundcloud.com/user-982606224/when-things-go-wrong.

Episode 3 which covers Risk Management with Andrew Madden is available at https://soundcloud.com/user-982606224/risk-and-risk-management.

The Good Governance Awards (GGA) is an initiative that recognises and encourages adherence to good governance practice by nonprofit organisations in Ireland.

The Awards were developed in 2016 by Carmichael and are supported by Boardmatch, Charities Institute Ireland, Dóchas, Enclude, Volunteer Ireland, The Wheel, together with our corporate partners; 2into3, Chartered Accountants Ireland, Davy, Dept. of Rural & Community Development, Mason Hayes & Curran, Mazars Ireland and The Governance Company.

Annual Reports

The Good Governance Award seek to acknowledge, encourage and promote good governance practice primarily in the area of annual reports.

Best Governance Improvement Initiative

This award will recognise initiatives that have been taken in the last 12-18 months to improve the quality of the nonprofit’s governance. Nonprofits can submit their good governance initiatives, setting out (briefly – max 750 words) the governance issue(s) they addressed, the actions they took and the impact that this has had for the organisation.

Why You Should Enter the 2019 Good Governance Awards

1. We are open for non-profits of all sizes: There are 5 entry categories ranging from small (annual turnover of less than €250,000) to the very large (turnover of over €15million).
2. Get your entries reviewed by a first class assessment and judging panel: We have a panel of 40 plus assessors and judges and 5 accountancy firms who bring great expertise and experience who will review your entry and will provide valuable feedback and insight to assist you in enhancing your organisation’s governance.
3. Enhance your organisation’s reputation with your stakeholders: Entering the GGA demonstrates your commitment to adhering to good governance practice and transparency. It also shows your willingness to be assessed and receive feedback on how you can enhance your governance.
4. Boost your team’s morale and gain valuable PR opportunities: Being shortlisted for a GGA award recognises the hard work that goes on in your organisation to adhere to good governance practice. Winning an award boosts credibility and increases awareness of your organisation which can help convince even more people that you are a cause worth supporting.

Entry Criteria

• To enter, the organisation must be an Irish nonprofit organisation (i.e. it has a registered office in the Republic of Ireland).
• There are 2 award types and 5 entry categories based on the income size of the organisation from those with an annual income of under €250k to those with an annual income of over €15m. Organisations may enter for either award type or for both.
• A nonprofit organisation must upload their entry to the GGA website by the closing date (13^th September 2019).
• Shortlisted listed organisations may be asked to supply additional information to assist the judges in their adjudications.
• See www.goodgovernanceawards.ie for more information.

Development Trusts Northern Ireland (DTNI) is hosting professional facilities management (FM) training events this spring, one of these events is in collaboration with Carmichael in Dublin. The FM course will follow the Institute for Workplace and Facilities Management professional standards framework and cover the fundamentals of health and safety, energy, contract management and much more. Click on the link below for full details.

DTNI Facilities Management Training

Pobal, on behalf of the Department of Rural and Community Development (DRCD) are inviting applications for funding from eligible organisations under the Scheme to Support National Organisations (SSNO) 2019-2022. Details about the new programme and the application process is available on https://www.pobal.ie/programmes/scheme-to-support-national-organisations-ssno/. The closing date for receipt of applications is 3pm on Thursday 31st January, 2019.