Volunteer projects are a great opportunity for personal development for volunteers, as well as actions for change and improvement in the communities that host them. But there are many young people, especially those with fewer opportunities, who do not feel ready to face a long-term project on their own.
To help them embark on long-term projects we have a tool that unfortunately is used less than we need: volunteering team projects.
These projects require specific capacities in the entities that manage them and good partners that help their proper development. And for this we proposed this activity. “V Team” is a Partnership Building Activity that aims to increase knowledge about volunteering team projects and to create a solid and trustable network of partners interesting in organizing them, both, from program countries and partner countries.
Through the principles and practices of non-formal education and in an atmosphere where participants can learn from each other, “V Team” included teamwork and network activities, capacitation activities and exchange of ideas and practices to inspiring projects.
Also, this PBA was to support organizations in their work with young people with fewer opportunities and help them understand how volunteering team opportunities can be used to challenge perspectives on inclusion, personal development, resilience and confidence building.
Thus we set the following objectives:
– To foster partnership building of potential hosting/supporting organizations equipped to support volunteering team projects.
– To support the development of partnership and sustainable networking between program countries and partner countries in the European Solidarity Corps (ESC).
– To help participants gain knowledge on the key activities involved in ESC and provide a space to nurture the development of volunteering team project ideas.
– To provide a space and the opportunity for ESC coordinators to exchange their experiences, share good practices and support each other in the management of ESC volunteering team projects.
– To motivate organizations to host and send volunteers with fewer opportunities.