Stuart Garland is the Learning and Capacity Building Manager with Volunteer Ireland. Previously he was Volunteer Manager with a leading homeless charity and the manager of a Volunteer Centre for several years.
Garland has worked in a range of roles in the third sector since and has a background in youth work. He was a Volunteer in Scouting Ireland over 20 years. He has extensive direct Volunteer Management experience with managing volunteer teams of over 1,430 volunteers. He is committed to volunteerism, and to fostering a vibrant and active community, where everyone can volunteer without restrictions, regardless of background or capacity, and achieve full participation by their voluntary activity.
Garland was part of the Volunteer Management Team for the Yorkshire Stage of the Tour de France Grande Depart 2014, Giro d’Italia Big Start in Ireland, the World Police and Fire Games 2013 in Northern Ireland. He was the Volunteer Programme Manager for the European Sandyacht Championship 2017, Volunteer Manager for the Dublin Marathon and Volunteer Manager for Dublin LGBTQ+ Pride and the Dublin Airport Volunteer Programme amongst other events and festivals. He has worked on volunteer programmes for over 120 different events and festivals. Most recently he volunteered with Ballina 2023 and trained the volunteers for the year long programme, one event being the visit and address of US President Joe Biden to Ballina, County Mayo in July 2023.
Since 2014, Garland has worked extensively with national organisations to support them in the development of their volunteer programmes. He has been actively involved in a number of Erasmus+ Programmes focusing on the development of volunteering at a European level. Most recently his work focuses quality standards for youth volunteering, family volunteering, and inclusive volunteering. He is a lead trainer in the use of the Volunteer Impact Assessment, a research-based toolkit that has helped organisations develop a strategy for volunteer engagement in their organisations.
Garland played a key role in the development of volunteer management standards in European Voluntary Service (EVS), which went onto to become the European Solidarity Corps. He was a member of the Associate Faculty of the National College of Ireland and was the Lead Tutor on the Certificate in Managing Organisations in the Voluntary and Community Sector Course. He is currently a member of the Associate Faculty of the Law Society of Ireland for their not-for-profit courses. Garland is recognised as Ireland’s leading specialist in the field of volunteer management and engagement. He has delivered capacity building and learning opportunities in Australia, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, New Zealand, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Slovenia. He has also spoken at conferences and seminars across Europe.
Garland holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Volunteer Management and Leadership from the University of Galway, a Diploma in Human Resource Management, a Diploma in Event Management, a Diploma in First Line Management, and a Certificate in Training and Learning from the National College of Ireland as well holding qualifications in Health, Safety and Welfare at work.
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