Be a volunteer at home and in Europe

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Farní charita Litomyšl – Volunteer Centre

Organisation:

Farní charita Litomyšl – Volunteer Centre

Country:

Czech Republic

About organisation:

Volunteer Centre of Farni charita Litomysl has been helping children, seniors and disabled people from Litomyšl and the surrounding area since 2012. We coordinate volunteer activities. Our volunteers help in 15 facilities and senior volunteers manage our wardrobe for the public and underprivileged people. We organise one-time events for our clients and the public during the year (Food collection, Outdoor exhibitions, Charity sales etc.). At the same time, we professionally guide and motivate citizens to selflessly help other people. We find and prepare future volunteers. We look after around 50 volunteers per year, they spend around 1900 hours helping other people.

Title of the project

Be a volunteer at home and in Europe

Start date:

3/10/2022

End date:

7/10/2022

Objectives:

During the Time to Move campaign we wanted to come closer to the general public and young people, so we decided to take part in the Library Week (3 - 9 October 2022), which was held in the local library. Library itself organises various activities for the readers during this week: lectures, workshops or free registration for readers. We spiced up the activities and promoted volunteering, travelling or Erasmus+ programme. We organised short and long-term activities during this week and promoted them on our website, social media and local newsletter. As part of the short-term activities we organised: workshops for children (memory game with European flags); computer game Mysteries in Riga; a quiz for youngsters about EU; board games for young people (game Travel through Europe from Eurodesk); 2 lectures about volunteering in our town and in Europe, which included experience of a young volunteer (helping in home for elderly people) and 3 students of local College of Education who talked about their Erasmus+ stay in various kindergartens. These activities have long-term effect: we bought attractive books with an educational theme about the EU/travel and donated them to the library; each book included a leaflet, which informs about volunteering in Litomyšl and Eurodesk activities; library promoted books during the Library Week and rewarded each book loan with small promo items from Eurodesk. About 100 people participated during the Library Week (students, adults, seniors).

Why the project was: empowering young people, adapting to changing realities, or thinking out of the box:

We tried to reach people of various age and more in a longer time frame – we placed leaflets into the books where they will stay for a while, we can also analyse the amount of book loans over the time and let the people think of various volunteer opportunities (they can come back to the information during their reading etc.). We condensed the activities into a few days, and made the Time To Move campaign “stronger”. We included students from primary and secondary schools, adults and seniors, so the activities were suitable for everyone.

How the project was inclusive:

Every poster and leaflet included the logos of Eurodesk, European Year of Youth and Erasmus+. We mentioned our partners in our web, Facebook, Instagram and local newspaper.

Green aspect:

We used promo materials from Eurodesk that we received, we did not create any significant amount of trash – the activities were either on-line or if not, then we just printed 4-5 posters and 20 leaflets that were glued into the book. We did not create any disposable trash.

How the project has given a European dimension to your event and ensured the visibility and promotion of Eurodesk?

Every poster and leaflet included the logos of Eurodesk, European Year of Youth and Erasmus+. We mentioned our partners in our web, Facebook, Instagram and local newspaper.

Impact:

We were able to informally reach especially young people and open a volunteering possibilities for them (a completely new information or view). We spread the information about where to find our Eurodesk point. We established a new cooperation with the local library and College of Education, which might continue this year as well. We enriched the local library book depository and possibly might reach people who are interested in volunteering or studying/working abroad for a longer time (through the leaflets).