Issue 2 / 2013
Miteinander
Das Magazin von Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
Special issue 2013
Content Editorial
Projects The network FamilienLeben Vilshofen
Content The network FamilienLeben Vilshofen
The projects aim is to visit families and support them unbureaucratically in order to ease the families' burden. Another aim is to improve the children's linguistic abilities by reading stories to them in kindergarden or school. In general, the goal is to support families in their everyday life and provide them with information concerning their children’s education to support the children’s development from an early age on.
ROCK YOUR LIFE! Passau e.V. Sprachpaten project Tatennetz
Everyone who wants to help is welcome!
ALZHAUSER CAFÉ Tempo para Dar - Time to Give! APAV - Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima (Portuguese Victim Support Association)
The Federation of Portuguese Food Banks Banco de Tempo - The Time Bank HEKVA Provincial Directorate Of Family And Social Policy Of Istanbul TOG - Community Volunteers Foundation
Issue 2 / 2013
Sprachpaten project
Integration and language support for children and youths Speech is the key to integration. Due to this reason, it is very important to give children and young people the chance to learn German as early as possible. Thereby their educational opportunities as well as their entire standart of living will improve significantly.
ALZHAUSER CAFÉ – Saronno (Varese - Lombardy, Italy) A voluntary social organisation promoting an active old age for the elderly APAV - Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima (Portuguese Victim Support Association) APAV is a Portuguese volunteer organization that provides support to victims of crime and their families and friends.
The Federation of Portuguese Food Banks Against hunger and waste
Imprint: Miteinander – das Vereinsmagazin von Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. This Grundtvig Learning partnerschip "Volunteers for families" has been founded with the support of the European Commission. This magazine reflects the views of the authors and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Editor: Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. , Leopoldstraße 9, 94032 Passau; Fon: 0851 – 213 2739; Fax: 0851-213 27 39; Mail: sekretariat@gemeinsam-in-europa.de Chief editorship: Perdita Wingerter, Anastasia Stokes; editorial work: Anastasia Stokes; layout: Katharina Grimbs, Franz Szabo, Anastasia Stokes; V.i.S.d.P.: Perdita Wingerter, Geschäftsführerin GLL; Miteinander erscheint unregelmäßig. Text- und Bildkopien nur mit Genehmigung. Miteinander das Magazin von
Editorial European citizens struggle with a wide economic crisis that is accompanied by a social crisis which is changing the role of the state in the provision of services. Due to the lack of resources to sustain the welfare provision, many governments are involved in re-assessing the European Social Model and in many decisional areas the idea came up that voluntary activities could and should replace the state’s role. All across Europe, there is an increasing number of volunteers who are willing to share their expertise and time when and where it is needed. Their volunteer work can be performed in a formal, non-formal or informal way. To give an example: some of the most profound family support services in Europe are provided to families by non-profit organizations. With their natural financial restraints and natural involvement in active citizenship, these organizations frequently rely on volunteers to develop their actions and services on behalf of families at the lowest possible cost. So, volunteers can help and support families in various ways. Their work is beneficial not only for the families, but for
communities and society as a whole. To give you a glimpse of how volunteers can support families in practical terms, four voluntary organizations working in Germany, Italy, Portugal and Turkey got together, collected their good practices on a national level and shared their expertise as well as know-how. This magazine is one of the results of the Grundtvig learning partnership “Volunteers for families”. We choose the good practices we think are transferable in different settings. As much as we promote volunteer activities though, we want to clarify and emphasise that this social, human and intergenerational capital of volunteers is NOT performed to replace state financed social services due to the economic cuts. We agree with the “European Year of Volunteering Alliance 2011” which believes that “limiting the value given to volunteers and volunteer-involving organizations to merely replacement vehicles for delivery of services previously provided by the State demonstrates a failure to appreciate the role, value and ultimately the impact of the sector…Volunteering plays a role
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as a complementary feature of the European Social model and should not be harnessed as integral feature of it” (P.A.V.E. 2011) Having this in mind, we hope that our ideas and good practices inspire lots of other organizations across Europe to follow our examples and implement new volunteer services for the benefit of families in need! Yours sincerely Perdita Wingerter (Germany) Sofia Silva (Portugal) Nedim Kaya (Turkey) Clara Bassanini (Italy)
Editorial
Dear readers,
The network FamilienLeben Vilshofen
Contact details Netzwerk FamilienLeben Vilshofen Brigitte Pollok-Will (brigitte_pollok@web.de) Stadtplatz 27 94474 Vilshofen Website: www.familienlebenvilshofen.de
The network “FamilienLeben Vilshofen” and the local branch of the “Kinderschutzbund” came to life as a result of too many families not being able to cope with their problems in everyday life any longer. In order to provide help for them from the beginning on (if possible) and in this way providing better chances for their children’s future, a local network for families has been founded in the small town of Vilshofen in Lower Bavaria. The projects aim is to visit families and support them unbureaucratically in order to ease the families' burden. Another aim is to improve the children's linguistic abilities by reading stories to them in kindergarden or school. In general, the goal is to support families in their everyday life and
provide them with information concerning their children’s education to support the children’s development from an early age on. The formal volunteer activity therefore consists of providing direct help and support to those families who are in need. At the moment there are 19 family supporters who visit the families as wished on a more or less regular basis. The mentors visit families after the birth of a child in order to inform them about their network and provide them with general information on how to raise a child. They offer help and support to the families over a longer period, if so desired. There are also 13 volunteers who visit kindergardens as well as schools and read to the children. This helps enhancing the children's linguistic abilities. To enhance their competence and to ensure a good quality of work, the volMiteinander das Magazin von
FamilienLeben Vilshofen
unteers are prepared for their tasks by a six-day training. The entire activity has been developed by local partners and is embedded in a local strategy to support families on a regional level. This project helps families to strengthen their parental skills and their ability of coping with everyday issues. All in all, it assists them to structure their everyday family life. Moreover, the project helps building social and neighborhood networks, while it brings benefits to families who are in need.
ROCK YOUR
„This individual partnership between students and pupils, who can learn together as well as from each other is more productive and sustainable than any donation.“
Emilio, 21 years old
Contact details ROCK YOUR LIFE! Passau e.V. Lukas Hauser, Emilio Walter Pustetweg 12 94034 Passau Email: passau@rockyourlife.de Website: http://passau.rockyourlife. de/
The project ROCK YOUR LIFE!, which was founded in November 2011, is an initiative managed by students from the University of Passau. In form of a university group, they act as coaches for pupils from 12 to 16 years of age who have problems finding a job after graduating. The aim of the project is to minimize the differences between pupils of different school types concerning their training maturity, create equal chances for every pupil, improve the pupils’ employment chances as well as their self-esteem and self-awareness. Meanwhile students of all fields accompany over 100 pupils of the secondary schools Salzweg and St. Nicola along their way of life. The students (coaches) meet with the pupils at least every two weeks over a period
of two years in order to prepare them for working life. Some parents do not care about their children's school achievements. The coaches help pupils with their school homework and support them in organizing their future steps. They also assist pupils in finding an internship. Every student is first and foremost a contact person whether for school questions or for private concerns. The activities depend on the relationship between coach and pupil as it is not defined what they will be doing together before the couples meet. All activities depend on individual preferences. Some coaching couples do sports together or go to the movies and others work on the pupils’ homework. The tasks and duties of the volunteers inMiteinander das Magazin von
LIFE! Passau e.V.
„There are many projects and institutions in which one can get involved, but only very few of them have the ability to improve the society in such a sustainable way, as we would like to picture it. ROCK YOUR LIFE! is one of them.“
Emilio, 21 years old
„The program speaks for itself, the achievement is measurable and discernible. We won’t get a better yield than by investing directly in people.“
Rock your life
clude assisting pupils in applying for a job and accompanying them in the last two years of school. Most of the volunteers work as coaches but there is also the possibility to work in the organization team. This project is a good practice, because it provides equal chances to all pupils, involves young volunteers and supports peerto-peer-volunteering.
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Sprachpaten project Integration and language support for children and youths
Contact details Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. Perdita Wingerter Leopoldstraße 9 94032 Passau Email: info@gemeinsam-ineuropa.de Tel: 0851 - 2132740 Website: www.gemeinsam-ineuropa.de
Speech is the key to integration. Due to this reason, it is very important to give children and young people the chance to learn German as early as possible. Thereby their educational opportunities as well as their entire standart of living will improve significantly. To provide and support this chance, our non-profit organization “Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa” (GLL) has initiated the project “Sprachpaten” (language mentor) in close collaboration with the vhs-Passau, which is the leading institution in the field of “German as a foreign language” in the region. Another supporting partner is the education authority Passau, which takes over the coordination with the participating schools. This project, led in voluntary work, will support children with little or no German language skills and lead them to a more fulfilled life.
Also the mentors are provided with learning material on child-oriented language teaching. The skilled mentors will then practice German individually with their “godsons” at least once a week in a playful and enjoyable way. Through this very personal companionship and language support the “Sprachpaten” project brings many benefits to young people with a migration background. The “Sprachpaten” project will help to increase their chances and possibilities in education as well as integration considerably. Participating mentors have the chance to get in touch with a new culture and widen their personal horizon by helping a young person to reach educational success which will lead to a better future.
Every child or adolescent with problems in speaking German is supported by one volunteer language mentor for a period of at least one year on a no-cost basis. The mentors are trained professionally and especially mediated to their own child to ensure a certain quality level. Through the unique training, which is led by the vhs and GLL, didactical, pedagogical and intercultural contents are mediated.
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Tatennetz Project
Everyone who wants to help is welcome!
Volunteers are needed in many different fields of activity. Whether people want to get engaged in a social, cultural, environmental field or in sports, their commitment is important and valuable in every possible way. To help interested people to find the volunteer work they desire most, the project Tatennetz was founded in October 2009 by the nonprofit organization „Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa e.V“..
those - also for families - by supporting different organizations that work for families to recruit new volunteers and to motivate people to contribute to society and get involved themselves. “Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa” provides various types of social/volunteer activities, especially activities that aim at reducing inequality in chances. The volunteer positions available cover all forms as well as fields of volunteer activity. Everyone can contribute: the activities of the Tatennetz motivate people to become volunteers, encourage them in their volunteer work, connect the Tatennetz provides an internet-based platform for various organizations working with volunteers and volunteers in the region of Passau. This website also support those organizations by helping to find provides women and men of all ages and social new volunteers. status with the chance to find a suitable and personal aligned volunteer activity. On the website www.tatennetz.de, non-profit, social, cultural and
other organizations can claim their need of volunteers in the form of a job description. With this platform, the organization promotes volunteering opportunities for everyone and wants to raise awareness for social injustice and problems through volunteer activities. The aim is to promote Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
Contact details Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e.V. Perdita Wingerter Leopoldstraße 9 94032 Passau Email: info@gemeinsam-in-europa.de Tel: 0851 - 2132740 Website: www.gemeinsam-in-europa.de
Project Tatennetz
Volunteers are needed in many fields of activity!
Alzhauser Café Saronno (Varese - Lombardy, Italy)
It took a few meetings in the Alzhauser Cafè to turn things around him. It is important the friendly welcome, the kisses and hugs, handshakes cordial, some activities with volunteers: a return of innocent friendship, a personal and exclusive space that looked lost and suddenly found himself. Contacts details: Maurizio Carbonera, Auser Regionale Lombardia Via dei Transiti, 21 – Milan (Italy) Tel. 00390226113524 maurizio.carbonera@auser.lo mbardia.it www.auser.lombardia.it
Auser Regionale Lombardia (founded in 1990 in Milan – Italy) is a voluntary social organisation promoting an active old age for the elderly and helping to develop of their role in society, in order to counteract social isolation, improve quality of life, encourage solidarity and participation, and develop solidarity and exchanges between the generations. Auser Saronno is one of local Auser in Lombardy and organizes and manages the initiative called “ALZHAUSER CAFÉ”. The initiative contributing to the construction of relationships and a net of mutual aid: one of the main problems that characterize the actual conditions of elderly people – and above all the situation of elderly people that suffer from the Alzheimer’s Syndrome – is the social marginalization. The Alzhauser Cafè is a support for both patients and family members who look
after them, by providing relief moments from the daily commitment of care and assistance. The project offers listening points, evaluation meeting, group of mutual help in which family caregivers can exchange their experiences and feel more equipped to face the illness and the emotional stress. Alzhauser coffee gives
"I've never done these things ..." Mario, 73 years old the possibility to informal caregivers to go out from the close family ties and obligations, to keep personal relationships, to testify their life experiences in a group activities. The project aims to relieve suffering connected to decay of mental faculties caused by old age and mental diseases. “Alzhauser café” offers activities with the help of a group of Auser volunteers, well trained, and the support of a psychologist and a music therapist.
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Tempo para Dar (Time to give)
“Time to Give” is a Project run by Coração Delta, the association born of Delta Cafés corporate social responsibility commitment. It aims to allow local organizations an increased number of volunteers for their elderly support activities by providing volunteer work by Delta Cafés’ willing staff, during work hours.
This project brings benefits to the beneficiaries of the volunteering, in this case the elderly; it is very well received by the volunteers themselves and doesn’t interfere with other schedules as it is done during working hours; brings benefit to the company that has seen this project widely advertised in multiple media, local national and internationally.
Contact details
In order to gather participants, the project was advertised internally and interested workers registered for participation. Afterwards a screening interview took place, followed by successful completion of training prior to initiating actual volunteer work, comprised of 2h per month during work hours.
Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
Name: Associação Coração Delta Address: Rua Brasil, 4, 7370 Campo Maior, Portugal Phone number: +351268 699 450 E-mail: claudia.gama@delta-cafes.pt Website: www.deltacafes.pt/pt/sustentabilidade/responsabilidadesocial/projectos-deresponsabilidade-social http://centroeducativoalicenabeiro.org/frontend
Tempo para Dar - Time to give
The volunteers are involved in activities such as accompanying elderly people in external activities (going to the supermarket, doctor, post office, etc), organizing elderly’s medication, helping with administrative tasks (filling out requirements, social security documents, etc), taking elderly out for a walk or to the garden, read the newspaper to someone with sight impairment, among others. However activities aren’t previously defined and differ according to the elderly person’s needs.
Portuguese Victim Support Association
Contact details APAV Address: Rua José Estêvão, 1 35 A, Pisos 1 /2, 11 50-201 Lisboa, Portugal Phone: +351 21 358 79 00 Email: apav.sede@apav.pt Website: http://www.apav.pt
APAV is a Portuguese volunteer organization that provides support to victims of crime and their families and friends, offering them quality, confidential and free services, aiming to contribute to the improvement of private and public social policies, focused on the statute of victim.
Its main “visible” activities are legal, psychological and social support offered confidentially to the victims seeking support; also important and available for volunteers is administrative support to the organization as a whole and to training activities. This is a volunteer organization and they managed to become recognized nationwide as the organization of reference in victim support and victim related investigation and knowledge in Portugal. "It is very motivating to be aware that with these pieces of ourselves that we offer we are actually contributing to strengthening the
work of organizations with a valuable mission providing services to society. My tasks are statistical analysis of APAV’s training projects and this allows me to be a ProBono Volunteer/Friend, which means I can volunteer from home. This is very important for me in terms of time management as I have a full time job. All of us, as citizens, have skills that we can use on behalf of others, aiming for a common good. It doesn’t necessarily mean a commitment of a lot a time, it doesn’t discriminate on age, gender, race or academic qualification as the contribution can be offered in several areas."
Andreia Marques, Sociologist Miteinander das Magazin von
"What led me to seek volunteer work at APAV was the need to feel I was helping and positively and actively contributing to society, while at the same time I am acquiring experience in my Professional area, allowing me to evolve and develop as a psychologist. (…) The work of APAV with its beneficiaries, victims of crime, is extremely important as more often than not it is the only organization providing support to these people in their time of need. It is also very rewarding to see
the people rebuild tjeir lives, creating a new life project that doesn’t including victimization but wellbeing, self-fulfuillment, motivation and a great will to get through it and be happy. Volunteering at APAV made me evolve, both as a human being and a professional, and daily volunteer work is the drive of the organization, it what allows it to reacj its beneficiaries, make a difference and change their lives for the better."
Pedro Machado, Psychologist
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Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima
Associação Portuguesa de Apoio à Vítima
The Federation of
Contact details Morada: Avenida de Ceuta Estação de AlcântaraTerra, Armazém 1 1 3001 25 LISBOA Telefone: +351 21 3 649 655 Email: ba.federacao@bancoalim entar.pt Website: http://bancoalimentar.pt
In 1990 the first Portuguese Food Bank was created in Lisbon. It was based on John Van Hengel’s original 1967 Food Bank, in Arizona, USA, that initiated a worldwide movement which reached Europe in 1984, through France and Belgium. Over the years, other food banks were created in Portugal and on February 19th 1999 the Portuguese Federation of Food Banks Against Hunger was founded, aiming to coordinate the procedures and practices of the several independent food banks that existed and also to promote the creation of new food banks in other areas of the country, in order to create a structured network that actively fought against waste and reached the people that needed help the most.
Over the years the Food Bank Against hunger managed to become one of the best known non-profit organizations in Portugal, its name recognized by all and receiving donations from individuals as well as big and small corporations, gathering probably the greatest consensus in terms of public recognition by the Portuguese people.
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Portuguese Food Banks
Number of people receiving support
Organizations supported by the food banks Tons of food collected by the Federation over the years Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
The Federation of Portuguese Food Banks
The intervention of the whole of the Portuguese Food Banks countrywide:
Banco de Tempo - Time Bank Contact details Banco de Tempo Address: Rua Luciano Cordeiro, 24 6ºA, 1150215 Lisboa, Portugal Phone number: 213 546 831 Email: bancocentral@bancodete mpo.net Website: http://www.bancodetemp o.net
This Project was born from the need to create “mutual help networks” in communities. This model of Time Bank was inspired in the philosophy of time banks that appeared in Italy in the early 1990s as well as in the work of Association Salud Y Família in Spain. GRAAL started working on this Project in 2001 and after a year dedicated to creating the infra-structure and involving people and organizations, the first Portuguese Time Bank Agencies were launched in 2002.
hour has the same worth: no service is more valuable than other. The logic behind this project is the “good neighbourhood” helping relationships. The Bank is organized in local agencies spread over different areas. Volunteers are Bank members and one becomes a member by attending an interview at the agency, receiving information regarding the way the Bank Works, filling out a Membership Form (with contact information, references services offered and requested) and declaring to comply with the Regulation. Members receive a Membership Card, checks and a list The Time Bank works as any other of services available in the Agency. bank only the currency is time and there is an obligation to reciprocate. People use and offer hours of volunteer work that are “paid” using time checks, which can and should then be used as needed. There is no direct exchange of services: the time donated by any member is reciprocated by any other member in any other type of service that one needs and the other one offers. Every
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"There can be no crisis at the Time Bank because the time offered and received is all the same, it has the same measure. The similarity to the crisis is in saving, knowing how to use it in the best possible way. If you have some to spare you can offer it to others. It’s a matter of management. " Isabel Aresta
I have been using the time to offer services in domestic repair, organizing visits to Serra de Sintra and more recently participated in a high school project to renovate a classroom. In return I have participated in several cultural workshops.
Henrique Matias
the holidays, helping with cat/dog bath. Company: accompanying to the doctor, talking about a certain subject; walking around town, telling stories, reading aloud, going to shows/movies/exhibitions. Lessons: teaching how to study, teaching how to relax, tutoring; lessons on gardening, computers, languages, music, pottery, painting, cooking, de-
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corating, dancing. The reciprocity is an innovative concept in this context and extremely motivating for volunteers. The basis of this idea is solidarity between members of a community in a neighbourhood help kind of way instead of an assistencialist/welfare providing way.
Banco de Tempo
There is no limit to the actual activities members may offer but the following are common and expected: Children: Babysitting, taking to/picking up from school; help with homework; play. Recreational activities: riding bicycle, walking, playing cards/tennis/chess, playing music, guiding tours, animating parties. House work: small repairs, fixing carpentry/electricity. Domestic help: washing the car, washing the dishes, go grocery shopping, go to the post office/pharmacy; pay bills, dusting; ironing. Cooking and needlework: Cook a special dish, Cook meals to freeze, dressmaking/embroidery/knitting works. Secretarial/bureaucratic: proofreading, Word processing, filling out documents, filing taxes. Animals/Plants: Gardening, taking care of animals/plants during
HEKVA
Contact details
HEKVA
Address: Haseki Sultan Mh. Haseki Cd. No: 33 Aksaray/İstanbul Phone number: 0 (21 2)
632 69 76-77 Email: info@hekva.org.tr Website: http://www.hekva.org.tr
Hekva is an organization that especially supports financially weak families which have moved to Istanbul in finding jobs as well as schools for their children. After an inquiry, families get up to one year of financial support. Children from 11 to 17 years of age are supported in the areas of general knowledge, art, culture and sports, while women receive support so that they have better prospects in participating in the working world. In one project women had for example the possibilities to sell handmade knitted goods. Moreover Hekva helps children and families with anger management.
personal environment. After a personal one-on-one talk, volunteers will work in areas that they feel most confident and comfortable in. The organisation is of the opinion that it is very important to talk immediately about any kind of disagreements that may arise as only a happy volunteer can make an impact as well as motivate others to get involved in voluntary work. Getting a “thank you” from someone you helped raises your self-esHekva reaches out to potential vol- teem which is why their motto is unteers through social and cultural “who helps a lot, gets a lot in reevents, flyers, internet and their turn”. According to their belief, it is Miteinander das Magazin von
They offer trainings for volunteers about team work, communication, conversations, rights and obligations and office work on a regular basis. Hekva is a civil organization and would like to remain independent from the state. Some projects are publically subsidized and our organization has a say in draft bills of the Ministry of Family Affairs.
Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
HEKVA
their duty to help people in need and not look away.
Contact details:
Headquarters
AİLE VE TOPLUM HİZMETLERİ GENEL MÜDÜRLÜĞÜ Tel: +90 0312 705 55 00
Website:
ttp://www.athgm.gov.tr/tr/
Provincial Directorate Of Family And Social Policy Of Istanbul Volunteer cooperation with the Turkish Republic Ministry Of Family And Social Policy The Turkish Republic Ministry of Family and Social Policies decides social policies related to family, women, and children, elderly and disabled people and the provincial directorates carry out social services according to these policies in Turkey. It is one of the best examples of cooperation between government institutions and NGO’s, Private Companies, Universities and other governmental institutions. Briefly the social services carried out by our directorate are services for children, for the elders, for disabled people, for women and for all disadvantaged groups. Services for children include among others adoption services, protector family services, services for the elders cover retirement homes, elder care and rehabilitation centers. For disabled people services include family consultations and education, occupational education and rehabilitation, services by the social rehabilitation center or distributing aid in cash and kind to families of disabled. There are also shelters especially for women subjected to domestic violence. With the new law prepared by Ministry, which came into force at World Women’s Day 2012, measures for women subjected to violence were expanded such as women are put under protection, temporarily cash aid is given, crèches support for their children for a specific time is provided, psychologically, vocationally, legally and socially counseling services are given, etc.. Services for disadvantaged groups are i.e. “community centers” which are providing service in slum areas. In these community centers child-
ren, young people, women, men, disabled people and elder people form communities can bring up their needs and claims. In this way, they expand their potential to create solutions to their own problems with public institutions, instead of expecting whole solutions from state organizations. As a result, all members of the family undertake some tasks and fulfill social responsibilities as active members of society. Trough the cooperation’s with NGOs, universities, local authorities, private sector companies in between 2009-2012 many different projects have been accomplished by T.C., as for example the “Protective Mental health Project” in cooperation with the “”Open Door Social Responsibility Association. In cooperation with the Hand in “Hand with Little Hearts Association” some concerts and shows were arranged and child homes were opened and managed. The “Dream Project”, “Eti Child Ferry” and the “From Street to School Project” were established in cooperation with private sector companies and further activities were undertaken with the Maltepe University and the Koç University as well as projects with the local authorities. Miteinander das Magazin von
TOG – Community Volunteers Foundation The Foundation Toplum Gönüllüleri Vakfı, which was founded in December 2002, contributes to the personal development of young people by encouraging them to participate in social responsibility projects as volunteers and aims to realize social peace, solidarity and change. It is one of the first foundation directly focusing on volunteer contribution and training. The aim is to increase young people’s community involvement on a voluntary basis. Therefore, the Foundation supports the realization of over 800 projects and activities implemented by about 35,000 young people in over 100 university clubs. Some examples of these informal projects are “Behind the Heart”, “Health Literacy” and “Living Library”. The official age range for participants is between 17 and 25, with some possibilities for people over 25, and the network mainly consists of student clubs – consequently the target group is university students. However, there are some informal groups that are not tied to any university as participation as a volunteer is not supposed to be tied to a person’s background. All volunteers actively take charge in the process of all activities to be signed by the association, starting from planning until the implementation of it.
The foundation is able to continue its activities thanks to individual and institutional donations. Many well known Turkish companies support the program.
TOG trains trainers who implement peer to peer trainings and offers face to face support to university student clubs. Moreover, TOG supports young people’s ideas on social problems and brings them together so that they learn from experience. Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
Headquarters Hobyar Mh. Rahvancılar Sk. No:7 1.Vakıf Han Kat.1 34112 Eminönü/İstanbul Tel: +90 212 522 10 32 Tel +09 0212 522 10 30 Fax: +90 212 522 10 34 E-mail: info@tog.org.tr Website: http://www.tog.org.tr/EN/home_163
TOG
Contact details
ABOUT US This magazine is the result of the Grundtvig Learning Partnership “Volunteers for families”. Partner organisations were ANJAF from Portugal, Pari e Dispari from Italy, the International Volunteers Association from Turkey, and Gemeinsam leben & lernen in Europa from Germany, all of them providing services to families. The objectives of this partnership were:
•To raise awareness for the situation of volunteer practices in some European countries •To map the status of volunteer practices in some European countries •To verify training and learning opportunities for volunteers •To increase lifelong learning opportunities for volunteers intervening with and for families •To increase lifelong learning opportunities for workers of organizations promoting volunteer work on behalf of families •To promote the practice of volunteer work in all the countries involved •To collect best practices of volunteer work on behalf of families throughout Europe •To disseminate broadly the best practices in the field of volunteer work found by the partnership’s research •To promote contents and innovative ways to stimulate To promote the voluntary commitment and communication between generations in a dimension of solidarity and social cohesion.
To attain these objectives, several actions took place: a) Each partner researched the situation
of volunteer work on behalf of families in their own country. One of the levels of analysis shall focus training demanded and provided to volunteers as well as the supervision and evaluation of the volunteer work. Also the type, quality and specific actions of services on behalf of families that are based on volunteer work, were analyzed. Training provided prior
and during volunteer work was compared and non-formal learning opportunities available to active volunteers were verified. b) Additionally each partner organized a study visit for the other involved partners, including the presentation of national and local good practices, so that they get acquainted with the national and local situation of volunteer work. c) By providing access to good practices in the field, this project promoted change in each country that is touched by this project - directly or through the dissemination activities - by providing practical reflection on how the good practices shown can be adapted and implemented in another country. d) Partners planned to promote volunteer work on behalf of families through the use of data and expertise collected. They wanted to create an easily accessible and usable tool for dissemination of local contexts and best practices and to experiment with different ways of promoting new ways of intervening and volunteering. The idea was to spread and disseminate the shared experience, results and products at national, European and worldwide level. To reach this goal the partners agreed on a final product, which is a compilation of the national situations and best practices discussed and verified during the project. It is published on an eBook, which can be downloaded at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/318449 Miteinander das Magazin von
About the partners ANJAF is a non-profit association that aims to encourage solidarity in families and the community, in order to promote equality, justice and progress, carrying out activities that contribute to socio-professional integration and socio-cultural development of all exposed groups. ANJAF is a certified training entity, providing training prioritarily to at-risk target groups and staff that work with these groups. ANJAF also has a myriad of family support services such as GAF (with psychological and social support provided to families in need), CACI (helping people in their path to finding a job); Domiciliary Support Service (providing food, personal hygiene and house cleaning services to dependent elderly). ANJAF also has a local Volunteer network that would benefit greatly from gathering ideas on how other countries and other institution organize their volunteer work. ANJAF is involved in local, national and international networks and has a wide experience in European projects, namely at the coordination level. www.anjaf.pt
Pari e Dispari srl is an agency which is specialized in project on positive actions and on equal opportunities between men and women. It was conceived by women and its main activities are research, planning women centres and new services for women, training and vocational giudance, communication and organization of seminars, meeting, interviews. It works on a country level (Italy) and offers, aligned with the European development trends, ideas and services to handle equal opportunities policies between men and women, elderly women and elderly men, gender mainstreaming and families –social policies. It joined several european project within equal opportunities and ageing. Pari e Dispari is involved in local, national and international networks and has a wide experience in European projects, namely at the coordination level.
www.pariedispari.it
The NGO " Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V. " (GLL) is a private non-profit network-organisation in the region of eastern Bavaria, with its head office in Passau. The main emphasis of GLLs work is to initiate cooperation, activities and projects among the different individuals, organizations and communities who are all working to eliminate discrimination and inequality, wherever it appears. So there for members of the organisation are local communities, districts, social organisations, private companies, decision makers and citizens. The promotion of equal opportunity for everyone is combated by projects and mainstreaming activities in the field of a) promotion of lifelong learning, b) fighting discrimination and racism by promoting tolerance and diversity, c) advancement of volunteer work within the community, d) the support of disadvantaged target groups, e) educational work, f) gender mainstreaming activities and g) innovative form of mainstreaming activities. GLL promotes mutual understanding and learning of each other as well as cooperation between all age groups as well as the people in Europe. The main target groups of GLLs activities are migrants, socially disadvantaged people, older people, less-qualified workers, unemployed, migrants, as well as immigrants, women, families, disabled people or people with health restrictions, because they are particularly affected by discrimination and inequality. GLLs goal is promote their integration into society by means of the activities and measures of their association and active involvement of the various target groups. As an expert in the field of volunteer work GLL provided the partnership with some innovative measures for promoting and supporting volunteer work within the community: GLL runs an online platform on volunteer workplaces, provides training as well as advice and support services for volunteers, and initiated/supported some volunteer services for families, such as volunteer family coaches, setting up a community network for families, volunteer mentors. Some of its member organisations like pro familia offer direct services for families.
International Volunteers Association is an NGO, which aims to organize, support and coordinate individual Volunteers and Volunteering NGO’s, educating them and gather their support in volunteer services. It main activities include the mobilization and coordination of volunteers in implementing MDGs especially in fighting poverty, to support mother and child care and family issues, as well as educational programs
for families and society. They mobilize volunteers during and after men made and natural disasters and in environmental challenges, and organize medical campaigns in disaster areas and less developed areas. Their activities include also research work, organisation of seminars, conferences and educational programs; to make material and motivational aids to the people in need, open and support health centres,
Gemeinsam leben und lernen in Europa e. V.
soup kitchens, orphanages, kindergartens and homeless rehabilitation centres. They also organize summer camps and educational programs for (young) volunteers and organize educational exchange programs; and do necessary publications, video films and documentaries on its issues.
www.volunteersint.org
About us
www.gemeinsam-in-europa.de