French Red Cross : Mobilising Local Branches for the European Year of Volunteering

Throughout the year 2011, French Red Cross invited its local branches to participate in actions to celebrate the European Year of Volunteering. Between the 5th November and 5th December local Red Cross organizations worked together on promoting the visibility and recognition of volunteering and volunteers. The broad public was invited to say "Bravo" and "Merci!" to the 52 000 French Red Cross volunteers for their humanitarian engagement via a facebook-based campaign. Volunteers were also invited to serve as ambassadors for volunteering with the task to promote volunteering and to help recruiting new volunteers. Finally, local groups were given advice how to develop further volunteering and voluntary service i.e. by paying attention to the beneficiaries of voluntary work, to informing and training of volunteers, visibility and accessibility of services.

 

Find attached a selection of documents and flyers presenting the campaigns to local Red Cross branches.

Traditional Scout campaign revived

The Scout Association plans to re-launch the campaign that was once very successful. Bob-a-job week, first introduced after the Second World War, became an annual fixture in which boys knocked on doors to ask for work to do and expected a shilling in their fundraising envelope in return. It will be in modern form and will be called Community Week, designed to comply with health and safety laws and to avoid the risk of compensation claims.

Instead of offering to wash cars or mow lawns for a shilling, the new 'community week' will see Scouts offering help to hospitals, care homes or volunteer groups. Around 40,000 scouts are expected to undertake activities. Sometimes there will be tasks carried out for private households in return for a donation to the local scout troop - although with the ruinous level of inflation they would probably hope that the old rate of a shilling would be superseded by something higher.

Probably the greater focus will be on a single project lasting a week and involving the whole group - perhaps polishing items in a museum or doing some gardening for a hospital of care home, or clearing woodland or building work on a local playground. The work will be done for free but residents in the local community who appreciate it will

be invited to give money.

There are 400,000 scouts in the UK - aged from six to 25. There are another 30,000 on the waiting list to join as there is a shortage of adult volunteers. There are 94,000 of them but that isn't enough. 'Modern working patterns make it harder for people to commit to always be able to do a slot like a Tuesday evening,' the Scouts spokesman Simon Carter tells.

Volunteer Academy Kazan, Russia

Executive Committee Kazan 2013 organized the camp for volunteers on 20th-24th September 2011 in Kazan, Russia in the cooperation with the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and the Youth Policy of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Tourism of the Tatarstan.

ENGSO Youth representatives, Natasa Jankovic and Damir Stajner, took active part in the Volunteer Camp as guest speakers during lectures and workshops on the following topics: "Communication and Motivation as important elements of the Volunteer Management process"; "How cultural and sport events influence on the development of volunteering" and "Recruitment and Selection of volunteers for major sport events".

Around 500 participants took part in the International youth volunteers camp "Volunteer Academy" which took place in the Universiade Village in Kazan. Participants on the Camp were young volunteers from all over Russia as well as from Europe.

The purpose of the camp was to gain together young people who are actively involved in volunteering and have experience in the field of international communication. Volunteers were given the opportunity to work with the representatives of the Executive Committee of XXVII World Summer Kazan Universiade 2013, the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Tourism of Tatarstan, the members of the State Duma of Russian Federation and famous athletes. The educational program of the Volunteer Academy helped young people to get necessary knowledge and skills of how to involve, train and select volunteers for Universiade 2013 as well as to learn Russian and Tatar culture and traditions.

27th World University Summer Games will be held in 2013 in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. Universiade is the second major sport event after Olympics. Therefore, in order to provide successful organization of Universiade 2013, 20.000 qualified volunteers have to be recruited. The preparation for the Universiade 2013 in Kazan is gathering pace, the number of volunteers involved in projects is growing.

 For more information abouth the volunteering opportunities visit the official website http://kazan2013.com

The United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) is a network of youth-led associations working towards peacebuilding. 

As a part of the International Day of Peace celebrations on September 21st, 2011, along with the European Year of Volunteering 2011, the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY) in partnership with Fundació Catalunya Voluntària is organising a photo competition with the theme "Youth Volunteering for Peace".

We believe that peace can be promoted in many ways. This year we choose pictures to deliver our message of peace. This activity aims to embrace various forms of youth engagement in peacebuilding which are expressed through images. As mentioned, we would like to spread the role of youth participation in peacebuilding and hopefully, encourage more youth involvement in peacebuilding activities.

Participants will be divided into two categories:

• Members of UNOY (maximum two representatives per member organisation)
• Individuals aged between 18 and 30

Please note you may only enter one category.

Each participant can submit three photos maximum.

The photo(s) should meet the following criteria:

• Have a specific title
• Must have a caption of maximum 100 words per photo to describe the context of the photo including date and place
• Submitted in JPEG format, with a maximum limit of 3 MB per photo.
• Mention your name and the organisation you represent and if possibly, a brief description about the activities you do
• The photo(s) should be submitted before August 24th, 2011. The voting for the competition will be started from August 25th, 2011 to September 17th, 2011.

We will select the best  photos based on the most votes by the week of September 21st, 2011 to be displayed online and at an exhibition which will take place in the Hague. These pictures will also be used for an International Day of Peace publication.

The overall winner will receive a digital photo frame.

You can enter the competition here: http://www.unoy.org/unoy/blog/newsletter/2011/08/unoy-photo-competition-youth-and-volunteering-for-peace/
We look forward to your participation!

For further information about this competition, please contact us at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Are you running a project in which people are helping others via the Internet? The 'Discover e-volunteering' Competition is just for you! Hurry up – there are 6 days left to join the Competition, win prizes and show Europeans how much good they can do in the Web!

 

E-volunteering is volunteering conducted via the Internet. Free Web counseling, forming assistance and self-help groups, promoting partnership, searching for information, or on-line language courses are among many examples of e-volunteering. Through this Competition we hope to show their diversity and to encourage all Europeans to undertake social activity in the Internet!

All organisations from the European Union cooperating with volunteers through the Internet may take part in the Competition. The application form is available on the website: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/ . The deadline for submitting the applications is July 31, 2011.

The Competition will consist of the following stages:

• May, 25 – July, 31, 2011 - Call for appliactions
• August, 22 – September, 5, 2011 – The Competition Selection Committee selects 9-12 best projects
• September, 12 – October, 12, 2011 – On-line voting
• November 2011 – Final Gala in Warsaw

Attractive financial awards for the Competition winners are funded by the Polish Fundacja Orange (1st prize) , Fondation Orange from France (2nd Prize) and Intel Technology Poland Ltd (3rd prize). The total sum of prizes in the Competition is 6 000 euro.

'Discover e-volunteering' is the only competition, both in Poland and in Europe, which aims at honouring and promoting the most interesting projects concerning the co-operation of non-governmental organizations with the e-voluntaries seeking to help others via the Internet.
It has been also chosen by the European Commission as one of the flagship projects of the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

Detailed information on the Competition, the Regulations, and promotional materials are available on the website: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/

For more information please contact:

Patrycja Rokicka

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Marzena Kacprowicz

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The European edition of 'Discover e-volunteering' is organized by the Good Network Foundation and Fundacja Orange, in cooperation with Competition Partners. The European edition of 'Discover e-volunteering' competition is pursued under the project 'Values ​​and activities of volunteering and e-volunteering' co-financed by the European Union. The European Union is not responsible for any content generated by the project.

Does your organization co-operate with volunteers seeking to help others via the Internet? Don't wait till the summertime and join 'Discover E-volunteering' Competition now! Attractive prizes are awaiting for the authors of the best e-volunteering projects.

All organisations from the European Union cooperating with volunteers through the Internet may take part in the Competition. The application form is available on the website: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/ . The deadline for submitting the applications is July 31, 2011.

 

The Competition will consist of the following stages:

• May, 25 – July, 31,  2011 - Call for appliactions
• August, 22 – September, 5, 2011 – The Competition Selection Committee selects 9-12 best projects.
• September, 12 – October, 12, 2011 – On-line voting.
• November 2011 – Final Gala in Warsaw.

Detailed information on the Competition, the Regulations, and promotional materials are available on the website: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/

For more information please contact:

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

The European edition of 'Discover e-volunteering' is organized by the Good Network Foundation and Fundacja Orange, in cooperation with Competition Partners. The European edition of 'Discover e-volunteering' competition is pursued under the project 'Values and activities of volunteering and e-volunteering' co-financed by the European Union. The European Union is not responsible for any content generated by the project.

The Internationalen Jugendgemeinschaftsdienste (ijgd) Landesverein Berlin e.V is looking for two educational workers (posted in Berlin) for:

• International Voluntary Service for young people (Europe and Middle-East) - from 15 August 2011 till 31 August 2012 - more info (in German) - http://www.ijgd.de/News-Single.14.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=220&tx_ttnews[backPid]=263&cHash=06606d241c

• International Voluntary Service for young people (Japan) and European Voluntary Service (Sending) - from 15 August 2011 till 31 August 2012 - more info (in German) - http://www.ijgd.de/News-Single.14.0.html?&tx_ttnews[tt_news]=221&tx_ttnews[backPid]=263&cHash=f82359b7a7

More information and applications to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (tel: +49-30-6120313-41)

Deadline for applications 7 July 2011

We invite all organizations from EU to get involved in the 'Discover e-volunteering' Competition as our Partners.

With your help we will be able to reach more NGOs who could participate in the Competition, as well as create more diverse and valuable base of good practices, which will allow more and more NGOs to benefit from the possibilities of combining both the potential of Internet and volunteering!

Your role as a Partner would be to support us in promotion and organization of the Competition at your national or regional level. We will supply all informational and promotional materials (in English), so that you can insert them on your Webpage, send to media and other organizations that cooperate with volunteers via the Internet and might be interested in joining the Competition.

We will insert logos and information about all Partners on the Competition website, as well as all informational and promotional materials, etc.

To become a Partner of the Competition you should read the Guidelines of cooperation between partners involved into organization of the European edition of the „Discover e-volunteering" competition (download) , and send us ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) till 615h June 2011 a  letter or e-mail declaring your will to cooperate with us and accepting these guidelines.

 

more information: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/partnership/

promotional materials: http://www.e-volunteering.eu/competition/materials/

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