Stuart Garrett, Mark McGowan and Dr. Roisin Plunkett initially founded CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together in 2015. Since then, four teams of allied and other health professionals have travelled to Kisiizi Hospital, Uganda (2015 - 2018).
Stuart first travelled to Uganda when he was 16 years old as part of a transition year programme at St. Andrew's College, Blackrock. Whilst studying to become a Physiotherapist at University College Dublin (UCD), Stuart also got involved with UCD Volunteer Overseas (UCDVO). Stuart volunteered on UCDVO's Haiti, India and Nicaragua projects and established the UCDVO project partnership between UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Population Science and Kisiizi Hospital. Since graduating from UCD in 2011, Stuart has led several groups of UCD students to Uganda where they have undertaken their elective placement at Kisiizi Hospital.
Dr. Roisin Plunkett also visited Kisiizi Hospital as part of the St. Andrew's College transition year programme. Since then, Dr. Roisin has actively been involved in the establishment of CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare acting as Secretary and in 2015 (-2018), co-led a team of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals to Kisiizi Hospital, Uganda.
Mark McGowan travelled to Kisiizi Hospital in 2012. Mark has actively been involved in the establishment of CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together acting as Treasurer and in 2015 and 2016, co-led teams of multidisciplinary healthcare professionals to Kisiizi Hospital, Uganda.
Board of Trustees
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Chairperson: Stu Garrett
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How I got involved with CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together:
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Similarly, to Dr Roisin Plunkett, I was fortunate to travel to Kisiizi Hospital in Uganda in 2005 as part of the St. Andrew’s College transition year programme. This opportunity lead me to continue volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Zambia in 2006, with UCD Volunteers Overseas in Haiti in 2008, Nicaragua in 2009 and Delhi in 2011. My undergraduate elective physiotherapy placement in 2010 brought me back to Kisiizi Hospital in Uganda. After graduating I returned to work at Kisiizi in 2011 and 2012. During 2011 I met Mark McGowan, our treasurer, and a physiotherapy colleague. Mark worked with me in Kisiizi in 2012 and we worked together with some students undertaking their elective physiotherapy placement. These developed into annual student medical, nursing, physiotherapy and nutrition/dietetics voluntary placement projects run by UCD Volunteer Overseas and Kisiizi Hospital. These projects went from strength to strength each year from 2013. It was clear that this model of short term volunteering was effective and mutually beneficial for both the partner and the student volunteers. It became clear to us that this model could be applied to a professional volunteering initiative and there was a demand for this amongst healthcare professionals in the Irish Health Service. In response to this, CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together was formed by Dr. Roisin Plunkett, Mark McGowan and I in 2015. We have co-ordinated a volunteer trip annually since 2015 and have been developing our organisation together with our growing board of trustees.
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Why I got involved with CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together:
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The opportunity to harness the skills, knowledge and experience of Irish Healthcare professionals in rural Uganda to benefit our partners was a key driver behind my involvement. The impact that teams of professional volunteers could make was significant compared to my time 1 spent volunteering / working solely as a Physiotherapist. I also enjoy introducing other professionals to the rural Uganda context and living, working and learning from the staff, people and community there. The volunteers make a significant contribution through this kind of work and the CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together programme serves to develop the volunteers that we send to Uganda both personally and professionally. This win-win of supporting the local partner whilst also acknowledging the development of our volunteers, is why I am still involved with CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together.
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How does being Chairperson feeds into my day job:
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Being a trustee of CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together benefits me greatly in my day job. I have learnt a lot from the partners that we have worked with, my colleagues on the CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together board and the volunteers that have travelled with us overseas. I am continually learning from the work we are doing and the different challenges and issues that we work through as an organisation. The skills, knowledge and experience I have been fortunate to secure through my work with CHEEERS: Developing Healthcare Together have been invaluable in other areas of my professional life.
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Vice-Chairperson: Cian Leahy
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Cian Leahy is a trainee GP with the North Dublin Training Scheme, which focuses on delivering healthcare to marginalised and underserved communities. He has a particular focus in Global Health and first travelled to Kisiizi Hospital when he spent a month there as a medical student in 2017. Excited by the wonderful community and the value of the work that CHEEERS provides, he returned as Team Leader for the CHEEERS 2019 project and joined the board on his return, where he initially served as head of the Monitoring & Evaluation subcommittee, with a focus on a post-pandemic future.
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Secretary: Aileen Kelly
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Aileen became aware of CHEEERS through friends and colleagues who had been on previous trips. She was due to volunteer in 2020, but due to Covid-19, her trip had to be postponed. Fortunately, the majority of her group was able to reassemble and finally ventured out to Kisiizi in 2022. She was part of a team of 9 healthcare workers. Aileen and the other speech and language therapist worked at building on the work of previous years with specific focus on upskilling local staff to continue the education process both within the hospital and in the school of nursing.
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She got involved as it was a short term volunteering opportunity with a focus on sustainability. It provided a great opportunity to share knowledge and experience gained through her career with others. It also allowed her to learn from members of the MDT both from Ireland and from Uganda. This trip gave her an insight into a different culture and way of life. The skills and experiences that she have obtained through her work with CHEERS is transferable to multiple different facets if her professional and personal life.
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Treasurer: Pat Leahy
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Social Media & Communications Lead: Molly Kavanagh
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Molly Kavanagh is a junior social media and public relations professional with an interest in international development, humanitarianism, and NGO communications. She works as a Communications Executive for the Irish-based international humanitarian organisation, GOAL, and graduated with a degree in English & Politics from University College Cork in 2023. She joined the CHEEERS:DHT board in 2023 to expand her experience in social media management for charities and non-profits, and to help profile the organisation's amazing work.
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Board Member: Sharon Byrne
Sharon is the senior pharmacist for the Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases Unit at Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services in Dublin. She had been interested in volunteering for some time, but found it hard to find opportunities where her clinical pharmacy skills could be put to use. So when a former colleague passed on the CHEEERS application info, she jumped at the chance. Sharon was a team leader and pharmacist on the 2022 Kisiizi volunteer trip, and joined the board shortly after. She is looking forward to sharing her insights from that experience with the volunteers for 2024.
She qualified as a pharmacist in 2008 and is currently the senior pharmacist for the Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases Unit at Our Lady’s Hospice & Care Services, Harold’s Cross, Dublin. Having specialised in rheumatology since 2016, she also has a broad range of clinical pharmacy experience in different areas including palliative care, care of the elderly, antimicrobial stewardship and medication safety. She volunteered as a pharmacist and team leader on the 2022 CHEEERS trip to Kisiizi, and joined the Board of Trustees shortly after. Her hobbies include hiking, crochet, and insisting on doing water sports even though she can’t swim.
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Board Member: Roisin O'Murray
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Róisín O'Murray is the Speech and Language Therapy Manager at the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin. She has a passion for rehabilitation and helping all patients increase their quality of life post accident, trauma, or illness. She volunteered with the CHEEERS:DHT programme trip to Kisizii in 2019 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learnings from this time in Uganda. Róisín joined the board in 2023 and is looking forward to continuing to support this wonderful charity in what ways she can in this role.
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Board Member: Amy Rennie
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Board Member: Joe Noonan
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Board Member: Enda Larkin
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