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At a contact making seminar in Freiburg, Germany organised by CEV (European Volunteer Centre) in September 2005 the concept of a Europe wide European Voluntary Service (EVS) project was discussed. After a CEV meeting at the European Volunteering Assembly in Wolverhampton in October concrete plans were drawn up for a Training Course for those involved to take place in Dublin, Ireland in April 2006 organised by Volunteering Ireland. This Action 5 training course and the EVS programme are funded by the YOUTH programme of the European Commission.
The basic concept of the Volunteering without Borders is as follows: between September and December 2006 two or more volunteers will be identified to work with their local volunteer centre. From January to September 2007 they will travel overseas to one of the EVS host partners in this project (France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, Spain). They will then share the learning from their home country with the EVS partner volunteer centre. After the nine month EVS project overseas they will then return to their home country where they will return to their Volunteer Centre to share their international learning. It is hoped that as part of this project volunteers will keep a journal of their domestic and international volunteering experiences and this would be used to promote volunteering at a local level after the project.
At the training event which took place in Dublin between the 18th and 22nd of April 2006, we examined good practice in EVS projects, visited a number of Irish EVS projects and devised a strategy for the future development of this project. It is hoped that after the initial pilot project, due to end in December 2007 that other CEV members would participate in the project to allow a truly international EVS project to be run by local volunteer centres. Volunteering Ireland were proud to host and facilitate this event in Ireland. In Dublin a revised timetable for the project was devised and a number of items have been refined in the programme, which will focus on young people, inclusion and volunteering as its main key themes.
CEV is also planning to organise a 4-day seminar on strategies to develop and promote youth volunteering policies across Europe in the framework of the YOUTH programme (Action 5? support measures). This seminar will bring together representatives from volunteer centres, volunteer organisations, youth organisations, policy makers and volunteers from all over Europe to discuss ways forward to promote youth volunteering and volunteering within national youth policies. We would like to put a particular stress on the cooperation between EU member countries and South East Europe countries (Balkans) in order to exchange best practices in this field and to compare different traditions and experiences in youth volunteering.
The partners in the Volunteering without Borders Europe-wide EVS Project are as follows; International Conference of Volunteers - France , Caritas - Germany, Volunteering Ireland - Ireland, Centro Nazionale per il Volontariato and SPES - Italy, North Lanarkshire Volunteer Development Agency - Scotland, and Barcelona Voluntaria - Spain.
The YOUTH Program was established by the European Commission, the European Parliament and the member States of the European Union. It sets up a legal framework in which to support non formal educational activities directed at young people living in a country of the European Union.
The European Voluntary Service (EVS) is one of the various Actions put forward by this program. An EVS project allows a youth to carry out a voluntary activity in a country other than the one in which he/she resides, for a determined period of time, usually between 6 and 12 months. The activities of the EVS can take place in many fields (social, humanitarian, environmental).
The volunteer will benefit from an enriching experience by participating in this program. He or she will be able to actively get involved in the realization of a project by providing his/her skills, whilst at the same time acquiring new ones. It also represents an opportunity to discover another culture and to face new challenges.
This project is open to all young persons aged 18 to 25 years at the beginning of the voluntary activity, and legally residing in a country of the European Union. Travel, insurance and accommodation expenses, as well as a little pocket money are covered by subsidies of the YOUTH Program.
Barcelona Voluntaria is an association of young volunteers which offers the possibility of an exchange within the framework of the YOUTH program. It supports the project of the Casals del Infants del Raval organization, a non-profit, non-religious and non-political association. Created in 1983, it works in social and educational projects for children, youth and families of the Raval area. The volunteer who participates in this project will have the opportunity to work with children from an underprivileged area of Barcelona, helping them with their homework and carrying out several activities (games, music, sport, workshops ...).
The volunteer will work with a team made up of a professional educator and other volunteers from various origins. Each team will be in charge of a group of children aged 3 to 11 years, which mostly come from countries outside the European Union. Thus, he/she will benefit from working in a multicultural environment and will learn to develop educationally adapted methods.
Activities take place from Monday to Friday from 4pm to 9pm. Saturdays and Sundays are free. The volunteer also has two days off a month, that is 12 days for a six-month period, as well as local bank holidays.
If this projects interests you or you wish to get more information, do not hesitate to contact us by e-mail: france@icvolunteers.org or by telephone: +41 22 800 14 36.