Volunteering for a week of hard labour

Developer Sean Dunne and gardener Diarmud Gavin are among those taking part in the Niall Mellon Township Trust (NMTT) building blitz in South Africa between November 3rd and 10th.

A total of 1,199 men and 151 women have volunteered for the project at Freedom Park, a settlement 40km outside Cape Town. The group, which flies out of Dublin and Shannon in four charter planes today, plans to build 200 homes, a community centre and a landscaped garden.

About 80 per cent of the volunteers are tradesmen. Each of them raised at least 4,000 in sponsorship, of which roughly half will cover the cost of the trip and half will be donated to the trust.

This year's volunteers include Irish Nationwide CEO Michael Fingleton, A&L Goodbody CEO Brian Montague, helicopter operator Mick Sherry, former Esat director Mark Roden, Century Homes founder Gerry McCaughey, engineer Ray Goggin, Dublin auctioneer Billy O'Sullivan and Joe and Caroline Keeling from Keelings Fruit.

Hollywood actor Colin Farrell had initially been expected to join the group but notified the charity last week that he would not be able to volunteer because of "other commitments".

For further information, see www.irishtownship.com or tel: 01-4948200.