Stop Loneliness, Start Volunteering!
Project coordinator
Project partners
Centre for European Volunteering
Frivilligcenter og Selvhjælp Danmark (FriSe)
EUROPEAN PLAYWORK ASSOCIATION EV
Project Duration: 04/2022 - 01/2025
About the project
»Stop loneliness, Start volunteering« was developed as a possible solution to different types of distress among youth, occurring as a consequence of isolation and loneliness due to COVID-19 restrictions. Based on research and our own observation volunteering offers at least a partial solution to the problem. The consortium is active in the areas of inclusive volunteering, youth volunteering and has experience with youth with fewer opportunities. The pandemic brought restrictive measures which exposed a lot of people to considerable amounts of stress whereas youth carried the biggest load, being deprived of normal schooling and social life and dealing with illness and deaths of family members. As a society, we expected solidarity and sacrifice from them for the benefit of vulnerable groups, disregarding the possible negative effect on them. It was especially difficult on young people that have already lived in poor conditions before the pandemic.
The aim of the project is to achieve the following goals:
-
Greater awareness of the importance of volunteering in preventing the social isolation of young people and empowering youth organizations and organizations involving young volunteers.
-
Identify, collect, select and transfer innovative and effective practices, including digital volunteering, which can encourage young people and especially young people with fewer opportunities, to volunteer. Transmission and dissemination of practice information throughout the EU; greater digital competence of organizations and volunteers.
-
Identification and awareness of the needs of young people in their involvement in volunteering activities and the need of volunteering amongst young people. Development of a methodology to prepare innovative volunteering programs and cooperation approaches, development of quality standards in the coordination and mentoring of young volunteers, which means greater motivation and satisfaction of young people and therefore less loneliness and isolation.
-
Enhanced role and empowered national and regional volunteering centers / networks for professional support to youth and other CSO in the preparation of new volunteering programs for young people and with them.
-
Better understanding of the role of volunteering as an opportunity for personal growth, development, gaining competencies, professional development and maintaining and expanding the social network among young people.More self-initiative and more active participation of young people in society by engaging in volunteering programs focused on their needs.
-
Advocacy of youth volunteering and volunteering support for young people at a local, national and European level.
-
Raising awareness of the needs of young people and opportunities for volunteering to adopt policies that would attract the infrastructure to develop volunteering activities and strengthen the field of volunteering.
