Veolia Connect
Veolia in Ireland operates a community sponsorship programme called Veolia Connect. Staff can obtain funding for projects which they are personally involved with. The funding is awarded by a committee made up of representatives from across our company. To date Veolia Connect has donated €150,000 to 120 community groups across 24 counties, all championed by our own employees.
Environment
Barn owls are a Red Listed species in Ireland. There are an estimated 600 breeding pairs across the whole country, so this is no small conservation success story - and it was made possible by Veolia Connect.
Leo Beretta, who works in our Hazardous Waste Facility in Fermoy, Co. Cork, successfully applied to Veolia Connect for funding to upgrade and repair existing equipment and buildings such as the Critical Care Unit and the Recovery Unit.
Local development
Brendan Sheehan, who works in Veolia's Kilkenny office, made a successful application to Veolia Connect in 2019 for funding to repair and upgrade some of the existing equipment.
Una Wallace, who is part of the Project Omega team delivering wastewater treatment services for Northern Ireland Water, successfully applied to Veolia Connect for funding to provide a fun, accessible, outdoor learning area for the children, to enrich their learning experience with a hands on approach.
Disability
Jane O’Connell, who is part of our Energy team based on a customer site in Mayo, volunteered at the first Mayo Autism Camp in 2019. Following on from her volunteering days, Jane successfully applied to Veolia Connect for funding to develop and equip a sensory room for those attending future camps.
Declan White, based in our Kilkenny office, applied to Veolia Connect for funding to purchase a range of new athletic equipment which will help the athletes to develop new skills and ensure they have the best opportunity to participate in all the activities. The funding also allowed Laochra Laois to build storage for the equipment.
Sport
Paddy Kinsella, who works on a customer site in Wicklow, is a volunteer coach and mentor with Avoca GAA. Paddy applied to Veolia Connect for funding to purchase new jerseys and training equipment for the Under 9s.
Jonathan Sedgwick, a member of our Energy Technical team, successfully applied to Veolia Connect for funding to support trainees to join a 5 day voyage on a sail training vessel.
Health and Wellbeing
Anne McArdle, who works in Veolia's Dublin office and has personally benefited from the support of ARC Cancer Care wished to help the group open their third support centre, to be located in Herbert Avenue in Dublin. She made a successful application to the Veolia Connect Fund in 2019 to secure an initial amount of funding for the project.
Jason Hurney, of Veolia's Technical team, submitted a successful application to the Veolia Connect Fund to develop a prototype for a new product which would enable parents and families of recently deceased babies to spend more time with those babies and bring them home to make memories before finally saying their goodbyes.