V-CODE

Following meetings and discussions after the Volunteer Fair project partner "Pathways: I.D." decided to develop two activities:

First: Initiate activities that would encourage planting and management of community arbors.

Second: continue to support voluntarily managed cultural & heritage activities in Bishop’s Castle; in particular the Bishop’s Castle Arts Festival in February 2016

FIRST ACTION: An Arboreal Future

During the autumn of 2015 Pathways held meetings with community groups in several local Welsh Border communities and produced an outline plan for the planting of trees in various locations.

There were two mains aspects of the plantings:

- creation of recreational and reflexive spaces within communities,

- development of community based fruit orchards.

It is a long-term initiative, all the work would be performed by volunteers, supported where necessary by professional expert advice and hiring of specialist equipment. The works have already started.

Pathways also initiated a series of social events designed as a means of:

thanking volunteers for their efforts,

encouraging new recruits,

publicising the work amongst local communities,

developing a holistic approach to the work

– creating arbors as a means of improving the environment (attending to physical needs),

– creating celebrations that express feelings and develop inter-personal relationships (attending to emotional and psychological needs).

  The Remembrance Tree

During October & November 2015 Pathways ID provided support to a local community group in the village of Sarn, Mid Wales who had decided to plant an oak tree in remembrance of all those who suffered and died during and as a result of the First World War. An oak tree was purchased and donated and the day before the dedication of the tree it was planted in the grounds of Sarn Village Hall.

The group had been warned that the position chosen for planting was not easy and therefore group arranged for a mechanical digger to assist the process. After initial preparations the ‘digger’ removed the soil and rock – but discovered that the water-table was very near the surface.

  This is the ‘Sarn’ – which in English means ‘paved causeway’ – and the reason for such a causeway was being revealed in the digging process. The village hall and pub opposite are based on a watershed of natural wet ground created by the surrounding hills.

Fortunately the group had prepared for the situation and were able to place the oak tree into a growing medium that would hopefully allow it to establish itself. And the following day, the 8th November, members of the Sarn community gathered for the dedication of the tree.

The planting and celebrations associated with this event marked the start of a process which will create a ‘Soul Spinney’ in the local churchyard. An ‘open access’ place where those visiting the graves of friends and relatives may sit and reflect.

  Developing the work

The volunteers responsible for the organisation and planting of the Remembrance Tree thus began the process of planning the practical aspects of the Soul Spinney and developing other community actions.

Pathways continued its tradition of organising celebratory evenings with food and drink in which existing volunteers were ‘thanked’ and new potential volunteers ‘encouraged’ and  creating events centered around the traditional theme of ‘wassailing’ in which apple trees greeted with music, song.

This event united the inhabitants of one area of Dyffryn Ceri in a processional visit to gardens with small apple orchards. The trees are greeted and at the end of the process the participants gather for a social evening. The event is performed with an ‘informal formality’.

SECOND ACTION: Supporting the Bishop’s Castle Arts Festival, 17-21 February, 2016

The festival was organised and managed by volunteers and provided, wherever possible, free and low cost events and activities. There was some sponsorship and those attending events were encouraged to donate to the costs of the whole event. The Volunteer project was providing valuable financial support to the event. Without such support the volunteers would be unable to present the range of activities that they did – and pay for the major concerts held on Friday and Saturday evenings.

This event is one of a series of events held in Bishop’s Castle throughout the year – all managed entirely by volunteers.

The social and economic impact of these events in a rural area such as the Welsh Border, is very important. Without the efforts made by the volunteers in creating such activities the general social and economic situation of the area would be greatly diminished.

The attitudes and processes that have created a vibrant local community in Bishop’s Castle is one of the elements that will form part of Pathways’ contribution to the new teaching courses and research being initiated by Glyndwr University.

 

In UK it was organized a volunteering initiative related to the annual UK national Remembrance Day. Pathways ID provided support to a local community group in the village of Sarn, Mid Wales who had decided to plant an oak tree in remembrance of all those who suffered and died during and as a result of the First World War.

More information: https://inspirationalpathways.wordpress.com/pathways-eu-activities/volunteering/the-volunteering-project-related-uk-activities/developing-the-project-in-the-uk/

11-23/03/2016

Such topic was chosen because of a lack of knowledge in Poland about volunteering and importance of being a volunteer for young people. Pupils in Poland have sometimes a chance to learn or hear about volunteering, but they have lack of chances to be a volunteer. Moreover, young people do not know that experience gained during volunteering can be (and is) useful in their future life, when they will be looking for a job.

That is why FAO focused on a group of volunteers who first were trained during workshops and then trained pupils in one of Lublin`s school. 

The initiative was divided into two parts:

  • workshops for volunteers – young people (students) learned about training skills and methods of preparing and implementing voluntary activities (workshops) in schools – 16 students in total,
  • two workshops in school for 44 pupils. 

Actions that were implemented during preparations:

  • preparations of workshops – recruiting volunteers who expressed willingness to be trainers, to prepare and realise workshops for pupils, preparation materials for students, technically arranging workshops, 
  • realisation workshops  for volunteers – 16 students took part in it,
  • preparations of the workshops in school – recruiting schools, meetings with headmasters of schools, that were interested in taking part in this initiative, information and promotion, technically arranging workshops 
  • realization of workshops in school – there were two workshops:

- Volunteering as a chance to get to labour market,

- Skills that you need to have to be a good volunteer and good employee.

44 pupils took part in this activity.

Volunteers were engaged in preparing materials and realisation of two workshops for pupils. They were encouraged to organise the initiative by themselves with assistance.

The innovation of this initiative is a process of teaching and learning, because it is focused on method of work. Every student has :

  • a coach to support, 
  • possibility of taking part in workshops,
  • possibility of using their skills in practice during workshops for pupils in schools.

As the effect student is tought by a coach how to teach and after that he is a teacher for pupils in schools.

Information about initiative was disseminated by different channels using FAO`s contacts network (direct and indirect via mail, phone, fax). The articles were put on FAO website (www.fao.org.pl) and Voluntary Development Foundation website (www. frw.org.pl)

The impact on direct and indirect target group of volunteering initiative was:

  • increasing the awareness and knowledge about volunteerism,
  • inspiriting students, pupils for activities for their local environment,
  • increasing of knowledge and skills of students about teaching and training methods.

There were 60 participants, that took part in this initiative. Participants were involved in the initiative by organising workshops, preparing some educational materials, promoting the initiative in their local community. Moreover, members of local foundations (Foundation Sempre a Frente, Voluntary Development Foundation) were involved in implementing initiative`s activities and dissemination. 

The initiative will be continued by organising other events, that are focused on popularisation of volunteering. 

Invitation to the local initiative >>> 

14-18/12/2015

3 schools in rural areas in Lubelskie Region in: Harasiuki, Huta Krzeszowska and Bukowa and Culture Centre in Bilgoraj, Kosciuszki 16 Str., Bilgoraj

The topic to popularise music of Polish composers among pupils was chosen because of a lack of knowledge about Polish modern composers among children from primary schools in rural areas. Pupils learn about musicians, but they have no chance to hear the classical music in the theatre because they live in little villages that are situated far away from big cities, where theatres and operas are located.

That is why the focus was on three schools in villages Bukowa, Harasiuki and Huta Krzeszowska of Lubelskie Region to organise a music initiative for pupils.

The initiative was divided into two parts:

  • workshops about Polish composers – pupils learned about lifes and creation works of 4 Polish modern composers: Witold Lutoslawski, Stefan Behr, Henryk Gorecki and Tadeusz Baird;
  • a concert organised near the place where pupils live – children had chance to hear classical/opera music alive.

Actions that were implemented during preparations:

  • preparations to workshops – preparation materials for pupils, meetings with headmasters of schools, technically arranging workshops, 
  • realisation of workshops in 3 schools – 173 pupils took part in it (Bukowa – 67 pupils, Harasiuki - 75 pupils, Huta Krzeszowska – 31 pupils; total – 173 pupils),
  • preparations to the concert – information and promotion, meeting with people from Culture Centre in Bilgoraj, technically arranging concert (place, lights, sound system etc.), organisation of transport for pupils, 
  • preparations to the concert – meetings with artists, choosing composers and their songs, preparing agenda, arrangements with pianist and announcer,
  • engaging concert participants – choosing pupils in 3 schools,
  • realisation of concert – two professional opera singers, pianist, announcer and 196 pupils took part in the concert.

Volunteers that were engaged in organisation of initiative learned the way of organising such events as workshops and concert for pupils. They were encouraged to organise the initiative themselves with some assistance. 

The innovation of this initiative is the focus on promoting classical music among young people. Children and teenagers see classical music (especially opera music) as boring, non-attractive and they are not interested in getting know about composers and music. FAO did effort to break the stereotype and encourage young people to getting to know and trying to like such type of music.

Information about initiative was disseminated by different channels using FAO`s contacts network (direct and indirect via mail, phone, fax). The articles were put on FAO website (www.fao.org.pl) and FAO on website of Community Culture Centre (www.gokbilgoraj.pl). 

The impact on direct and indirect target group of volunteering initiative was:

  • increasing the knowledge about Polish composers, among pupils,
  • increasing awareness on beauty of classical music,
  • showing that young man can spend his/her free time on listening the classical music, participating in concert and getting know about national heritage and it can be an attractive alternative for computer games or spending time with electronic gadgets,
  • inspiriting teachers and headmasters to organise similar initiatives in their schools. 

There were 196 participant, that took part in this initiative. Participants were involved in the initiative by organising workshops, preparing some educational materials, promoting the initiative in their local community. Moreover, members of one of local association (Assositiation „OAK“) were involved in organising initiative`s activities (meetings with headmasters of schools, preparing workshops) and dissemination. 

The initiative will be continued by organising other events, that are focused on popularisation of classical music, with special regard to Polish composer music. FAO plans to organise more concerts for pupils in Lublin and rural areas in upcoming years. 

Local volunteering initiative, called "Insight into Voluntary Work", was organised on 11/04/2016 at the Volunteer Academy (Vrijwilligersacademie Amsterdam) in Amsterdam. Vrijwilligersacademie Amsterdam is the main partner of project Dutch partner Stichting VU-VUMC implementing V-CODE project activities. The Academy take care of volunteer training that they are able to provide best qualified volunteer services for Amsterdam citizens, for their care and welfare. 

Volunteering and refugees was chosen as a topic of this event as refugees are an important topic these days. Often they are perceived as ‘in need of care’. However, this does not apply for all refugees and there are plenty that are actually able to provide care. Vrijwilligersacademie Amsterdam opted to organise a workshop in which invited participants discussed this topic and explored what kind of voluntary work could be done by refugees. 

The objective was to trigger people to explore the idea of refugees volunteering. Participants reflected on their concept of what a refugee is: needing care vs providing care. This is important in current society in which we are faced with more and more refugees every day and in which we need to find a right way to co-exist. The workshop aimed to investigate new ways of thinking about caring for each other, and specifically focused on voluntary work for refugees. What does that involve and what possibilities are there? The workshop aimed to investigate new ways of thinking about caring for each other, and specifically focused on voluntary work for refugees. What does that involve and what possibilities are there? It is expected that this initiative has contributed to this goal. More people opened up to the idea of welcoming refugees as volunteers.

A workshop setting was chosen in which a refugee that has had experience with volunteering shared his story and directed the discussion about it. This way as much interaction as possible was gained and as many people as possible to join the initiative were engaged. 

The topic – refugees as volunteers, providing care for locals – is quite rare at this point and as such is innovative. The method of a workshop is, off course, well known and had proven its value.

The workshop was disseminated throughout social media (websites, Facebook and Twitter accounts of Vrijwilligersacademie Amsterdam and University), and amongst the wide network of the University and Vrijwilligersacademie Amsterdam. 

  • 26 participants took part at the workshop.
  • Contacts were made with different volunteering organisations to make more use of the combination of volunteering between refugees and locals, on different levels. 
  • Numerous continuous local volunteering initiatives anticipated and will be implemented after the project ends.
  • As the outcome of the workshop the solutions to the question "So how can we enable voluntary work for newcomers and refugees?" were provided: offer a guideline how to volunteer; explain the concept of voluntary work during the lessons at schools; focus on voluntary work for groups, not only individuals; use social media and create a ‘newcomers database.’ 

 

Invitation to the workshop >>>

Overview of workshop results (with useful links and photos) >>>

LITHUANIA: "VoluntYear" initiative

The very general initiative in Lithuania was a Year of Volunteering called VOLUNTYEAR 2015 – initiative of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities, officially announced by the Dean of the Faculty at the very beginning of the new academic year at the Kaunas University of Technology, and with a very engaging professor’s speech about volunteering. The VOLUNTYEAR initiative comprised a lot of different volunteering initiatives that were developed and implemented with students and professors, voluntary and other non-governmental organisations, public institutions during the whole academic 2015/2016 year. Most activities took place at the Faculty in Kaunas City, several were also established outside the Faculty. 

This project was a very good opportunity to make input and spread the idea of volunteerism engaging Faculty academicians, inviting non-active students and volunteers, spreading information widely about good works done, and providing a platform for organisations involving volunteers to present their initiatives and attract new volunteers.
 
It was decided to initiate numerous attractive voluntary initiatives, involving academic members. Faculty academicians were quite new at the development and implementation of voluntary initiatives at the Faculty, but several did that with engagement and personal and academic interest.
 
Many initiatives were developed and implemented during VOLUNTYEAR year, especially targeting at the whole period of Fall semester. Faculty students and other Faculty members had possibility to find out everything about volunteering and join social activities for those willing to volunteer but not knowing where to start from:
  • Volunteers engaging professor’s speech and discussion at the very beginning of academic year, on 02/09/2015, for students and other Faculty members;
  • On 14/10/2015 with a Civic Engagement Fair and a small conference where the participants of “Mission Sibiras” talked about their experience. In addition, assoc. professor Thomas A. Bryer, director of Center for Public and Nonprofit Management, University of Central Florida (USA) held a lecture of his own experience in volunteering. Participants had a chance not only to join the conference but also visit the volunteering fair and get to know about different organizations of volunteering (more about the event - Event No. 04).
  • On the World Kindness Day (November 13), an initiative “Mission of Kindness” was announced inviting volunteers to share their stories on social media of the Faculty making their kindness spread. Active volunteers were interviewed and their stories were made public at different social media channels of the Faculty. The “Mission of Kindness” was ended with the celebration on December 7th at the “VeGandhi” event. Students volunteers shared their stories and were rewarded;
  • On 17/11/2015, lovers of good movies were be able to spend an afternoon with movies, discussions and share about volunteering.‬
  • “VeGandhi”, on 07/12/2015, an initiative of the Faculty professor, and was the first study day on veganism and vegetarianism in the academic history of Lithuania. This one-day symposium, named after the great Indian leader, focused on volunteering activities for animal rights and welfare, with a special emphasis on vegan/vegetarian lifestyles. Famous Lithuanian singers and song-writers, business people, voluntary managers and volunteers joined and shared their own experience and life-changing choices. The event was organised in the occasion of the International Volunteer Day;
  • Annual volunteer initiatives were implemented, too. These are: social activity of two faculties at the stray animals shelter "Penkta koja" („Fifth Leg“) with the aim to contribute to stray animal shelters welfare cleaning its environment; donate backpack for children, donate warm socks to the elderly, etc.
A very special initiative developed and executed by Faculty professors was when two departments joined forces for common project about volunteering. Media and public administration students were encouraged to create short movies about NGOs and volunteering environments in Kaunas/Lithuania, in teams from both educational programs. Public administration students were responsible for the contents of the movies, film study course students were responsible for the technical part. Short movies were made as exam. That was a challenging and a very interesting experiment for course professors.

Facebook event of the VoluntYear initiative: >>>

POSTER of the VOLUNTYEAR initiative >>>


VoluntYear

LITHUANIA: "VeGandhi" and Goodness mision initiative

The first study day on veganism and vegetarianism in the academic history of Lithuania. Took place on 7 December, 2015 at Kaunas University of Technology, A. Mickevičiaus str. 37, Kaunas, Aula (10:00 - 17:00).

VeGandhi, a one-day meeting on Vegan studies was the event organised with three purposes:

1) As an eating lifestyle, veganism and vegetarianism address the question of volunteering for a better society via our food choices. Eating is a primary need, therefore conscientious eating is one of the most basic forms of active citizenship. Some of the most important volunteering campaigns in human rights, environmentalism, animal rights, and else, are based on food choices.

2) As a general word, "veganism" does not designate only a eating lifestyle, but the whole movement for animal welfare and animal rights. During VeGandhi, volunteers in this field were invited to speak and share their experience and work. In particular, also two less conventional forms of volunteering were chosen, that offered a wider picture of these activities and went beyond the traditional idea of social activism as a "street demonstrations and petitions" type.

3) Finally, by associating the event to the figure of Gandhi, the intention was  to celebrate not only one of the most famous vegetarians in history, but also a leader who persuaded and guided a whole nation of volunteers into freedom, independence and emancipation.

Discussion, experiences, philosophies (and sharing of recipes) were organised in the company of:

  • JURGIS DIDŽIULIS (singer-songwriter),
  • EDGARAS LUBYS (aka AMBERLIFE, singer-songwriter),
  • ERICA JENNINGS (singer-songwriter),
  • BRIGITA KYMANTAITĖ (volunteer and manager at ‘Animal Rights Protection Lithuania’),
  • JURGA LAGO (jewellery artist),
  • DARIO MARTINELLI (director of the International Semiotics Institute),
  • GABRIELĖ VAITKEVIČIŪTĖ (volunteer at ‘Empty cages’).

The second part of the event was dedicated to the Faculty students volunteers who shared their stories of volunteering. Open space was given for sharing and discussing "Why should I volunteer?", and celebrating Goodness. 


More information about VeGandhi on Facebook event >>>

Photos from the event >> 

Links to the video records:

  • Short video >>>
  • Video record from live stream >>>
  • Full record of broadcast >>>

Event programme >>>

Poster >>> 

Press:

http://ktu.edu/lt/socialiniu-humanitariniu-mokslu-ir-menu-fakultetas/ivykis/vegandhi-ir-gerumo-misijos-diena
http://ktu.edu/lt/ziniasklaidai/naujiena/vegetarizma-praktikuojancius-zinomus-zmones-subure-ktu-vykes-vegandhi
http://skonis.lrytas.lt/mitybos-abc/zinomi-zmones-apie-mityba-kuri-pakeite-ju-savijauta.htm 
http://kauno.diena.lt/node/723702
http://www.diena.lt/node/723702
http://klaipeda.diena.lt/node/723702

The Conference “Volunteering in Latvia – Experience and Prospects”

Latvijas universityLocal volunteering initiative, organised by the partner in Latvia – University of Latvia represented by the Faculty of Economics and Management

The Conference “Volunteering in Latvia – Experience and Prospects” took place on October 30, 2015 from 10:00 to 16:30 at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Economics and Management, auditorium No. 324.

Being one of the academic partners of the project, University of Latvia decided as for its Local Volunteering Initiative to organize an academic event and to explore the topic of volunteering with the involvement of academic discussions – as a result the most appropriate manner was chosen to be the Conference “Volunteering in Latvia – Experience and Prospects”. It was planned initially that under the `academic umbrella` the Conference would bring together various actors of the organized civil society – mainly the very NGOs (volunteering organizations) and representatives from different regional municipalities of Latvia, which have quite a lot of coordinating competencies overlooking capacity of the social participation activities in their regions; the Conference was open and attended, of course, also by general public. In this way, the Conference facilitated the discussions about volunteering to all social parties involved. It is also to be emphasized that the Conference being University of Latvia Local Volunteering Initiative of the project was organized with a vast involvement of volunteers – people attracted and recruited as volunteers by the University of Latvia for the purposes of organizing the Conference and its follow-up activities.

The main actions used for implementation of this initiative was cooperation with regional municipalities and networking among volunteering organizations (NGOs) in Latvia, as well as information dissemination toward general public and representatives of academic environment. This led to the creation of pool of organizations and communication platform for the facilitation of discussions and development of further cooperation, including, the project`s research about the comparative analyses of volunteering in Latvia to be conducted at a later stage of the project. Main methods used to implement this initiative included basically targeted communication with regional municipalities and volunteering organizations, public appearances in social media, through press releases as well as presence on national radio broadcast and television to reach wider circles of general public.

 

Achieved results of this initiative

The Conference being University of Latvia local volunteering initiative of the project was organized with a vast involvement of volunteers – more than 20 people were attracted and recruited as volunteers by the University of Latvia for the purposes of organizing the Conference and its follow-up activities. The project`s leadership team at the University of Latvia provided the methodological and administrative support to the volunteers starting as of recruitment procedure and by structured task assignment and involvement in organizing the Conference and its follow-up activities, mainly, the project`s research about the comparative analyses of volunteering in Latvia to be conducted at a later stage of the project.

More than 20 people - the local volunteering initiative`s direct participants - were attracted and recruited as volunteers by the University of Latvia for the purposes of organizing the Conference. Overall, more than 70 people – citizens, members of general public representing different social groups, representatives from volunteering organizations, regional municipalities and state institutions of Latvia – took part at the conference and shared their experiences, learned and participated in the discussion panels and parallel working groups of the Conference.

As for the indirect impact, the Conference facilitated and contributed to the public discussion about the growing topicality of active citizenship through volunteering by targeted communication and networking with volunteering organizations and regional municipalities, as well as by public virtual appearances in social media, through press release and through presence on national radio broadcast and television to reach wide circles of general public. The estimated number of audience reached through indirect impact most likely reached several thousand people.

Innovative aspects of the initiative

The innovative aspect of this initiative lies in the fact that the initiative was organized by the academic establishment forming an `academic umbrella` that brought together main actors of the organized civil society related to volunteering topic – mainly the very NGOs (volunteering organizations) and representatives from different regional municipalities of Latvia – this has not been done earlier in Latvia. The “best practice” aspect in this initiative, in its turn, is the fact that University itself attracted and recruited more than 20 people as volunteers for the purposes of organizing the Conference and its follow-up activities, which on one hand shows “leading by example” approach and on the other hand gives also credibility to the University as a committed academic partner to encourage local volunteering initiatives and facilitate the debate among the main actors of the organized civil society and general public.

The continuation of the initiative

The main continuation activity of the initiative is planned research and the comparative analyses of volunteering in Latvia. The aim of the research is to explore the volunteering experiences in Latvia, characterizing volunteering organisations that are active in Latvia by a number of criteria such as activity area, age of members, their goals, tasks and motivation as well as to conduct a comparative analysis in relation to volunteering experiences of other countries. The research is explorative by design and within its conduct it will both, involve the already attracted volunteers for organization of Local Volunteering Initiative – the Conference, as well as will put in use the created pool of organizations (NGOs and regional municipalities in Latvia) and their communication and networking platform to collect, structure and disseminate the researched information thus even more strengthening the cooperation. The results of the research are planned to be disseminated to wider general public through a conference, article, press release and media appearances.

Given the fact that the time of the implementation of this project happened to coincide with the adoption of the first Latvian Law on Volunteering Work (adopted on June 18th, 2015 and will come into force as of January 1st, 2016) it is safe to predict that the project`s imitative and information dissemination activities of the University of Latvia as a project partner will raise the awareness of the volunteering topic among the general public.

Dissemination activities

Project`s planned and implemented activities as well as its` results are being and will be disseminated to a wider general public through communication with volunteering organizations, public virtual appearances (at least 17 times in total) in social media (at least ten times e.g. on the FacebookTwitterDraugiem.lv), through press releases (at least four times e.g. on WEB pages and news portals) as well as through presence on national radio broadcast and television before the Conference (from October 9 till October 30, 2015). The information is being disseminated in English, Latvian and Russian languages. 

Programme of the conference >>

Photos from the event >>

ITALY: "Mensa dei Poveri" initiative

ICRELocal volunteering initiative, organised by the partner in Italy – ICRE (Istituto Culturale per le Relazioni Euromediterranee)

ICRE strongly wanted to experience "Mensa dei Poveri" and on the February 7, 2016 implemented the initiative "Mensa dei Poveri" offering them the lunch and serving. The event was held in Vibo Valentia in the parish of the “Sacra Famiglia”.

The ICRE’s experience “Mensa dei Poveri” was very strong and significant. It has enabled us to live the meaning of gratuity culture (which is the basis of volunteering): you realize with more force of a reality that you have by side but you don’t see "the Reality of the Unseen." You can learn the respect and knowledge of the other people. This experience gives you a lot of humanity and enriches you. It’s an experience that at least once in life you have to do.

The implemented actions and the methods used for this initiative:

For the success of this event, we think that it was very important to have various meetings with the volunteers of the “Sacra Famiglia”, who every Sunday do this service with a great spirit of solidarity. We established, during the meetings, all the organization: supply, kitchen activity, reception, meal distribution and division of tasks. Each of us, who attended the day, brought in the initiative the own personality with strengths and weaknesses. None of ICRE members never had this experience, but everyone put a lot of goodwill to ensure that the day succeeds. Besides contributing economically, it was important the human contact between ICRE’s members and the needy people. Every Sunday the Mensa dei Poveri is a refreshment stand and a place of family meeting for so many needy people. 50 hot meals are distributed through the generosity of many benefactors and the work of volunteers.

Achieved objectives and results:

The first goal, which ICRE wanted to reach, was the involvement of young people, who have wanted to do this experience and were deeply affected by this reality, and still thank you for having lived this unforgettable moments. In front of so much poverty it is born a spontaneous desire to help everyone and in every way. What we've done is minimal, almost insignificant, but for one day we had given and they gave us a smile. We are convinced that if you want to affect society positively, you must start from these small gestures.

Another important objective is the involvement of citizens and the market of our country (Spilinga) who wanted to donate, then, the food and even today they are continuing to do so. ICRE is convinced that the numerous needs of society today are an appropriate response thanks to the Civil and Volunteering.

Impact and possible future development of sustainable cooperation networks:

The impact that this initiative had on the people was very positive. In fact, this initiative has created a small network of solidarity. It has also helped to expand the activities, increasing the participations and making touch with a reality still known by few. ICRE has wanted to give a small contribution with the cooperation of all the forces both political and voluntary, for an improvement of this reality.

The initiative “Mensa dei Poveri”, that ICRE have done, is continuing. In fact all members are trying to create solidarity networks, who in schools and those in other jobs, to help the volunteers of the Sacred Family. We are trying to involve all citizens, various grocery, restaurants, bars to create a food chain.

Innovative aspects of the initiative:

The experience of the "Mensa dei Poveri" is innovative for our territory, since only a few years ago was formed thanks to the work of the Sacra Famiglia’s volunteers. We believe it is possible to improve this service through involvement of all the associations and public bodies.

Dissemination of the activity:

All participants, both those who were physically present at the day "Mensa dei Poveri", and those that were added later have been involved through: Social Network, e-mail, facebook, articles on local newspapers.

The results achieved in raising awareness of the activity among the general public were the increasing of the participations on the activity and the involving of various shops. Their dissemination has been ensured by e-mail, facebook and word of mouth.

More: https://www.facebook.com/icreu?fref=ts 

Local volunteering initiatives were organised in each partner country. The aim of these events was to encourage local volunteering initiatives and assist them by providing methodological and administrative support. Partners were free to choose the topics and methods regarding there local needs and capacities of their organisations.

All implemented iniatitives differ and are very interesting and valuable. And may serve as good practice examples for other organisations interested in promotion of volunteering. Bellow are the links were you can find descriptions of each iniatitive. 

 

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