World Red Cross Red Crescent Day: 8 May 2011

To mark this year's World Red Cross Red Crescent Day – 8 May 2011 – the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is calling for greater recognition of the sizable contribution volunteers make in a world increasingly confronted by challenges linked to such adversities as natural disasters, disease, war and other armed violence, poverty, hunger and climate change. Read more.

Volunteering: a tool for inclusion? Magazine of the European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN). Special issue on the 2011 European Year of Volunteering, March 2011. NO. 134 | 2011/I

Contents:

* 2011 European Year on Volunteering – A space for anti-poverty organizations to engage

* Volunteering and the Fight against Poverty and Social Exclusion – towards an EAPN Position

* Portugal: Being a volunteer versus promoting volunteering

* The UK Government: Big Society and Volunteering

* Volunteering in Bulgaria – the Need for a Modern Vision

* Poland, willing to move on towards a strategic approach on volunteering

* The recognition of volunteering time as in-kind contribution in Structural Funds

* The 100 million Europeans volunteering deserve recognition

* Eurodiaconia: the multifaceted value of volunteering

EAPN's position paper on Volunteering and the Fight against Poverty. European Anti-Poverty Network (EAPN), July 2011

20th Volonteurope Conference & ACE Awards 2011

The 20th Volonteurope Conference was held in Edinburgh (20-23 October 2011) delivered in partnership with CSV in Scotland and supported by the European Commission's 'Europe for Citizens' Programme.

The Conference in Edinburgh, delivered in the framework of the European Year of Volunteering 2011, also celebrated the 5th Active Citizens of Europe (ACE) Awards. On Friday 21 October 2011, at Greyfriars Tolbooth & Highland Kirk in Edinburgh, we recognised outstanding indvidual volunteers and volunteering NGOs, as well as corporate companies with effective CSR and volunteering programmes. We are grateful to the Lloyds Banking Group who supported this year's Awards Ceremony. The winners of the 2011 ACE Awards were:

NGOs:

• Scottish European Educational Trust (Scotland)

• Sue Ryder (for work in Scotland through the Prison Volunteer Programme)

• Serve the City (Europe-wide)

Volunteers:

• Redhall Walled Garden Trainees (Scotland)

• Saronikos Young Volunteers in Action (Greece)

Corporate Organisations:

• Fundação INATEL - 'Conversa Amiga' Programme (Portugal)

The award winners were presented their awards by the judges John Macdonald (EC), Gabriella Civico (EYV 2011 Alliance), Matthew McGhee (CSV Youth Board Member) and Francis Lake (Lloyds Banking Group). Full details here.

Paper on the economic value of volunteering and contribution-in-kind

Roundtable discussion on European financial regulation review and civil society. Contributions from EUCLID & Volonteurope, Authors: Filippo Addarii, Luisa De Amicis, Tamara Flanagan, January 2011.

Volonteurope Seminar Series: the Value of Volunteering

The Volonteurope Secretariat recently held two consultative seminars on the Value of Volunteering, delivered in the framework of the European Year of Volunteering 2011. The seminars (in Prague, run jointly with our Czech member Hestia; and in London) progressed the call on Member State Governments and EU institutions to take volunteering seriously and recognise it as a strategic response in economic and social terms, as well as a driver of civic engagement. The speakers included a range of leading representatives from EU institutions, European and national NGOs and social enterprises. The departure point for the seminars, as well as Volonteurope's ongoing work in recognising the value of volunteering, is the recently-published 'Review on the Value of Volunteering' - available for downloading by following the link on the right-hand side. Read the Volonteurope Reviews "The Value of Volunteering" here.

Briefing paper # 26 - Volunteering and the European Year on Volunteering 2011

Briefing paper by Solidar (Conny Reuter, Francesco Zoia Bolzonello, Mathias Maucher). December 2010. Read Briefing paper.

On 30 November 2010 EUCIS-LLL co-organised a public hearing on "Recognising the role of volunteers and volunteering for social cohesion and active citizenship" with the European Civic Forum and Volonteurope in partnership with the European Economic and Social Committee in Brussels. An interesting debate took place on the recognition of volunteers and volunteering in the context of formal, non-formal and informal learning for social inclusion and active citizenship and the role of civil society organisations as the main supporters of volunteers

Volunteering as a tool for social inclusion of people with mental health problems

Policy position paper of Mental Health Europe - Issued on the occasion of Mental Health Europe's debate in the European Parliament on 17 November 2010. Read the paper here.

Volunteering Policy Paper published by Eurodiaconia, 2010. Read more.