Novartis goes the extra mile for Community Partnership Day

Thursday 28th April 2016: Members of Novartis Ireland volunteered today at a 1916 Commemoration event in St Mary’s Centre Nursing Home and Independent Living on Merrion Road, Dublin to mark Community Partnership Day 2016. The event included a talk by Irish historian Pat Liddy; 1916 music and traditional Irish Dancing from Novartis staff and a quartet from St Agnes School Parents Orchestra. St Mary’s Centre is a healthcare facility which provides care and accommodation for adult ladies, many of whom have a visual impairment. Pictured is Susanne O'Reilly and Jenny Coppins from Novartis Ireland with Pat Liddy and Maura Masterson, St Mary’s Centre Nursing Home. Picture by Andres Poveda Photography.

Susanne O’Reilly and Jenny Coppins from Novartis Ireland with historian Pat Liddy and Maura Masterson, St Mary’s Centre Nursing Home.
Picture by Andres Poveda Photography.

Volunteers from Novartis Ireland took part in a 1916 commemoration event on Thursday February 28th. Held in St. Mary’s Centre Nursing Home and Independent Living on Merrion Road, it was a celebration of Community Partnership Day.

The Novartis volunteers collaborated with members of the St. Agnes School Parents Orchestra to perform 1916 music and traditional Irish dancing, with another highlight being a talk by Irish historian Pat Liddy.

Novartis employees have already dedicated over 1,000 working hours to preparing for Community Partnership Day, with six specially planned projects taking place across the city. These projects have them helping out at the Irish Cancer Society warehouse, holding a clothes drive for the Simon Community, improving the grounds at Cheeverstown House and providing emergency packs for victims of the migration crisis. In total, they will contribute over 2,000 hours of volunteer work across the country in 2016.

Community Partnership Day is celebrated in 61 countries across six continents. In the last 10 years, Novartis’ associates have volunteered more than 1.3 million hours of work to this day, providing help to various charities and communities across the globe with services such as health screenings, hospital volunteering and blood donation drives.

St. Mary’s Centre is a healthcare facility that provides care and accommodation to women who suffer from visual impairment, and Managing Director of Novartis Ireland Loretto Callaghan explained that this is why the organisation chose to support it:

“Novartis has a long standing commitment to giving back to our local community around us. This year we wanted to give back to St. Mary’s Centre as it is such an important residence for ladies who live with visual impairment.

In 2016, with independence at the forefront of people’s minds, it is important to acknowledge that today’s fight for personal independence is just as important as 100 years ago. The residents of St. Mary’s Centre and the team from Novartis will recognise this today, and we look forward to continuing to provide support to the community around us, in the future.”

By Kevin Carney