Volunteers are at the heart of rowing in Ireland. From coaching and event delivery to boat maintenance, safety, administration, and the countless unseen tasks that keep clubs running, their contribution is vital.

To make sure our Volunteer of the Month award continues to fairly and meaningfully recognise this work, Rowing Ireland is introducing a small number of updates to the process in 2026.

These changes are designed to strengthen confidence in the award, while keeping the process open, accessible, and low admin.

What’s changing:

· Open nominations remain Anyone can continue to nominate a volunteer for Volunteer of the Month.

· Light-touch club sign-off Each nomination will include a simple confirmation from a club officer to acknowledge and validate the contribution being described.

Why we’re making these changes

Volunteer of the Month is more than a standalone award. Each monthly recipient is automatically invited to the Rowing Ireland Annual Awards Night, where the Annual Volunteer of the Year is selected from the 12 monthly winners.

Because of this, it is important that the monthly process:

· Is Fair and Credible.

· Ensures all our Volunteers are equally identified.

· Showcases the diverse impact of volunteers throughout our clubs.

Involving clubs helps surface contributions that might otherwise go unnoticed, such as boat maintenance, cleaning, health and safety, welfare, administration, and event support.

What’s not changing

· The process remains simple and low admin.

· Nominations stay open and accessible.

· Volunteer of the Month recipients will continue to be recognised nationally.

· All monthly winners will still be invited to the Annual Awards Night.

Keeping it under review

These updates will be introduced carefully, with nomination levels and feedback monitored as we go. The aim is to improve confidence in the process without creating barriers to recognising volunteers.

Rowing Ireland would like to thank all clubs and members for continuing to support volunteer recognition and for the incredible work being done across the country every day.