Posted September 1, 2011
Unum is enthusiastic about being an active part of our community, so we're very excited to announce a community contest! In celebration of the European Year of Volunteering, we are hosting a photographic competition to capture the spirit of volunteering in Carlow and the surrounding community.
Our staff is active in volunteering with Delta Centre, Saplings, Beam and the Jack and Jill Foundation, and we want to see how you're volunteering, too. Submit your best photos capturing the spirit of volunteer work, and your work will be displayed with all entries in the Visual Arts Centre on September 30.
There are fabulous prizes to be won for the best entries, so get your submissions in prior to the September 26 deadline!
Get complete information on contest rules, prizes, and submission details now.
Posted July 7, 2011
Greetings all! Unum Ireland is a hive of activity at present with multiple events taking place and lots going on. To start with I would like to extend a warm welcome to our 2 interns from IT Carlo, Sean Dwyer and Patrick Killalea, who are working on some exciting international projects with us until they return to college in September.
At the summit of Lugnaquilla mountain.
I participated in one of our key charity fundraisers on Saturday, June 18. The Corporate Social Responsibility committee decided to engage in a more ambitious challenge this year which resulted in 20 of us climbing right to the summit of Lugnaquilla mountain, the highest point in Leinster and the second highest peak in Ireland outside of Co. Kerry. There were very ambitious training plans put in place in advance and some were more disciplined than others in preparing for the big trek. We were provided with a list of comprehensive items to bring on the big day and a slight wave of panic crept over me as one of the items included a large orange survival bag. It is not something that I wanted to dwell on and hoped that it would not be needed!
A scenic view from the trek.
So, I eagerly set off on Saturday morning at 6.30am collecting some Unum friends en route. Everybody was in great spirits and keen to get started. It reminded me a little bit of the first day back at school as I glanced around at some of the shiny bright rucksacks, brand new flasks (which I forgot to pack!) along with some decked out in their trendy sports gear and all the latest accessories.
As the majority of us were inexperienced mountain climbers we decided to draft in the expertise of some local guides and they did an amazing job keeping our motivation and spirits up. Over a period of 7.5 hours with lots of breaks, and strong encouragement and support we achieved our goal, and had great craic along the way, in spite of the hailstone hurtling down on our faces and some of us discovering that our waterproof rain gear was not quite waterproof...
Unum families gather for the event.
In an effort to include as many people as possible, we also had a family friendly 8km woodland trail walk down the picturesque Glenmalure valley, which was very well attended.
Both groups met up in the Glenmalure lodge afterwards and presented cheques of 4,000Euro each to our 2 chosen charities. These charities are the Jack & Jill Foundation and Beam Services. Jack & Jill Foundation provides care and support for children with severe neurological development issues and respite to their families. Beam Services supports adults with special needs by providing day services, sports programmes, respite services and independent living from their base in Bagenalstown, Co. Carlow. Enda Cox and Peter Burrows did an excellent job coordinating this entire project, and I would like to extend a sincere thanks to both Enda and Pete for all their hard work and effort into ensuring everything ran smoothly.
Cheques presented to Jack & Jill Foundation and Beam Services.
Be sure to tune in again soon to hear about our partnership with a local team of secondary school teenagers who are heading off to Malaysia in September to represent Ireland in the International Formula 1 championships.