Objectives

Over the course of 30 months (February 2018 – July 2020), the „YES to Volunteering!“ project will further develop volunteering within the YES Forum network through the organisation of European Voluntary Service activities dedicated to youngsters with fewer opportunities, while supporting their implementation and ensuring the sustainability of the project through 3 Staff Trainings.

This initiative will therefore strengthen the results of the preceding project EVS4ALL, while participating in the new EU initiative, the European Solidarity Corps.

To achieve these objectives, the project will be coordinated by the YES Forum, a network of youth and social organisations committed to help young vulnerable people across Europe, and will rely on partners sharing the same dedication to disadvantaged youth. It will involve a balanced mix of organisations already experienced in EVS and prospective EVS organisations wishing to start their involvement in volunteering schemes, in order to bring new actors with the relevant expertise in working with disadvantaged youngsters into this field.

Activities

The “YES to Volunteering!” project will combine the implementation of regular EVS activities within its partnership with 3 Staff Trainings, these activities contributing to their mutual quality.

EVS Activities

“YeToVo!” will on the first hand focus on implementing quality EVS activities thanks to the exchange of volunteers between its partner organisations. The activities will be dedicated to youngsters with fewer opportunities, with a mix of 8 short- and 9 long-term EVS in Romania, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in order to adapt each activity to the volunteers’ profiles.

The implementation of these EVS activities will follow two steps:

• Phase 1: Experienced EVS organisations, having already the relevant EVS accreditations, will first implement EVS activities starting in 2018.
• Phase 2: Prospective EVS organisations, after they have received the relevant EVS accreditations thanks to the training and support provided through the first Staff Trainings will in turn implement EVS activities starting in the first semester of 2019. As these will be their first EVS, they will be accompanied by the rest of the partnership in this process in order to ensure the quality of these placements.

The EVS volunteers, besides their regular activities within their host organisations, will also take part to the Staff Trainings which will occur during their placement. This way, the Staff Trainings will:

• Include direct youth input as the EVS will share their experiences, expectations, wishes and remarks as volunteers with the partners’ staff during the trainings;
• Provide additional learning opportunities to the EVS volunteers, as they will get to discover the European youth and social field through the “YeToVo!” partners, experience international seminars, and receive the knowledge shared during the Staff Trainings in addition.

Staff Trainings

3 Staff Trainings will accompany the whole process in order to:

• Strengthen the capacities of organisations already involved in the EVS strand of Erasmus+;
• Give prospective EVS organisations the indispensable training and support they need to start their involvement in EVS.

In addition to the 3 Staff Trainings, the YES Forum will provide ongoing support to all partners in order to help:

• Prospective EVS organisations in the application process to receive the relevant EVS accreditation and in the preparation and implementation of their first EVS activities in 2019;
• Experienced and prospective EVS organisations in their transition to the European Solidarity Corps.

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