About Us

We’re a mix of regular Irish people (volunteers and staff) wanting to do our part to help Ukrainians through this crisis. We have grown quickly from our humble beginnings in March 2022 and now have a team of over 20 great people - paid staff and volunteers - working on matching, supporting hosts, lobbying and growing our operations. Many of us have hosted, or are currently hosting, Ukrainian guests in our own homes. Our Ukrainian team members are all living in host homes.

We are registered as a not for profit Company Limted by Guarantee (CLG), funded by The One Foundation, The Sunflower Foundation, The Community Foundation, Choose Love and our Service Level Agreement with The Irish Red Cross. Our governance structure, case studies and detailed budget are in place and available on request.

Founding Board

Get to Know Us

We have appointed a small, highly motivated volunteer board with the expertise and drive required to steer us through incorporation, start up, company registration and to build our overall impact.

MEET THE BOARD

Meet The Team

Angie Gough

CEO

A social entrepreneur with wide experience in Business Development and Event Management at Special Olympics, BBC Children in Need and Self Help Africa. Former interim GM and current Board member at Dublin Youth Theatre and founder of The Artskickers Awards. Passionate about people and community and the power of individuals to make a change.

Hosting 2 families and a cat in Dublin, with husband Myles, 3 kids and dog (it’s a big house). Hear their story, as told to RTE's Ray Darcy

Catherine Quinlan

Matchmaking Team Lead

Catherine returned to the workforce after raising her family and working part time in her family business as an administrator. She had previously worked as a medical secretary for many years. In May 2022 she received her first Ukrainian family into her home and they have since moved on in their journey. Over Christmas she received a guest for an emergency stay for two nights and this stay has evolved into the guest staying indefinitely. She lives in Wexford with her husband (Mark), three children and two dogs.

Jill Robinson

Head Of Operations & Co-Founder

Jill has worked in advertising and sales for over 15 years. She has extensive experience in fundraising, events and volunteering for Childline and various charities supporting the homeless. Jill led the development of our matching process and has supported over 50 matches, while assisting a number of Ukrainians to navigate life in Ireland.

Now providing emergency and short term hosting, Jill, husband Andy and 2 daughters have hosted two families in Maynooth who have moved into onward accommodation.

Ger Harvey

Host Support Lead

Ger leads our Host Support team, and has previously been a matchmaker. She studied Sociology at university and has a keen interest in social justice. Having worked in residential support for over a decade she brings her communal living expertise to the team. She also teaches yoga and loves getting out into nature with her dog Stella.

Roz Jones

Communications Lead

Roz has a background in project management, comms and operations within the non-profit and mental health sectors. She’s also a trauma-informed yoga teacher and is passionate about community support. Having recently returned from living in Canada, Roz is excited to be part of an amazing team that’s playing an essential role in Ireland’s response to the Ukraine crisis.

Kieran Walsh

Volunteer & Community Engagement Lead

Kieran has over 15 years experience in local politics & community engagement working very closely with Local Authority structures across Ireland. A passionate advocate for social change, Kieran is leading the Volunteer & Community Engagement response within HiH.
As an activist, Kieran has been a volunteer leader for most of his professional life. He joins HiH, inspired by the work of the founding volunteers and hopes to make a lasting impact for those hosts who have so generously opened their homes to Ukrainians fleeing war at home.
In his spare time, he likes to explore new cultures, travel & is never too far from an airport.

Olga Yakovenko

Ukrainian Comms Assistant & Translator

Olga is from Ukraine. She joined HIH in October 2022. Her background is in supply chain, logistics and education. She has been volunteering in Limerick before starting with HIH. She lived in a host family for 6 months and then moved on for her own journey...

Solo parent, Loves nature, the sea and an active lifestyle.

Muireann Raleigh

Volunteer Matchmaker

Muireann is a mom, volunteer and host. She has volunteered with HIH since the early days. She loves the sea, tennis, animals and her family (and maybe in that order)!!

Maryna Volkova
Matchmaker & Translator

Maryna is from Odesa and is currently living with her son in a host family in Kildare.

Maryna has been a member of the matchmaking team since December 2022. She loves the sea and looks forward to returning to Ukraine when there is peace.

Bronwen O'Malley

Matchmaker & Host Comms Liaison

Bronwen O'Malley has been a volunteer for Ukrainian families since February. She began hosting a Ukrainian family in April and through this became involved with Helping Irish Hosts. Bronwen became a member of the matching team in the beginning of August. She is a midwife with a particular interest in helping mothers and babies fleeing the war. Bronwen lives in Galway with her husband and five children and would describe herself as creative, artistic and passionate about helping others.

Dervla Byrne

Host Support

Dervla joined the team in HIH in October 2022; Dervla has a background in education, customer service and animal welfare and is an active volunteer in many community based organisations. She lives with her family in Co. Wexford where they have been sharing their home with a Ukrainian family since March 2022. As a host herself, she has excellent insight into the huge positives & challenges facing hosts & guests alike.

Antonia Madigan

Matchmaker

Antonia joined HIH in October 2022. Her background is in Primary Teaching with a focus on intercultural and equality-based education. Away from her role as a host now, she is a mommy to 3 small people. When not absorbed in parenting and matchmaking, she loves to throw on her AirPods and run the roads and trails around Lough Derg and her adopted hometown of Killaloe.

Kathleen McKiernan

Matchmaker

Kathleen McKiernan is part of the Match Maker team . Kathleen and her family are hosts them selves and that lead her to this role . Knowing the unique nature of hosting and some of the obstacles that can arise , she was drawn to Helping Irish Hosts after attending a road show . Before this job she ran a boarding kennels business from her home .

Martina Hails

Matchmaker

Martina hails from Kildare and joined team HIH in June 2023. She has a background in customer service and education . Martina hopes her own experiences of living in Spain with her young family and hosting mature students will help with her role as matchmaker. Her happy places are when she is on stage or screen or writing her childrens’ books. She admits to being a typical Libra, always striving for balance.!!!!

Maisie-Jane Lunson

Communications and Marketing Support

Maisie-Jane takes care of our social media and administration and works alongside our host support team. She joined HIH in April 2022 and has been hosting with her family since early last year. She has a passion for content creation and music. Alongside her dad, she released a song “Heavy Lifting” in support of HIH, inspired by “our instinct to help those around us in times of need” which they performed at our Solidarity show in the Abbey Theatre and on RTÉs The Late Late Show. You can have a listen to the song on YouTube or Spotify

Funded by

Working in Partnership with

Supported By

We are supported in other ways by a wide variety of individual, corporate and state partners, the Ukraine Civil Society Forum and hundreds of Hosts, Guests and Volunteers
to whom we are eternally grateful 💙 💛

About Us

Founding Board

Get to Know Us

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Meet The Team

Funded by

Working in Partnership with

Supported By