VOLUNTEER PROFILE - John Lyons, handyman and social entrepreneur

“I never imagined the volunteering would lead to paid work.”

John Lyons from Limerick worked in construction for 20 years, felt the brunt of the decline, began volunteering and, lo and behold, 18 months later he’s looking at being paid once more for construction related work.

Along the way, he and colleague Ursula Mullane have become social entrepreneurs, though he doesn’t accord himself any fancy titles.

“I’m just the handyman,” he says, modestly. “I saw an advert in the paper looking for volunteers to help the elderly and I said, ‘Yeah, by all means’.”

Payoff beckons for eagle-eyed volunteers

Two volunteers have set up a new company in the Mid-West after spotting a niche area of the construction sector that the multi-nationals are ill-equipped to compete in.

The two directors of Community Repair and Maintenance (CRM) could be in clover by year’s end, REPORTS ALLEN MEAGHER.

A London Perspective for Limerick

Michael Pyner

Michael Pyner established the Shoreditch Trust in Hackney, London, in 2000 and since then it has become a multi award-winning community investment and regeneration agency.