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In fall 2013, we started to implement the VTI Project (Volunteering as a Tool for Inclusion). It was an international project with the overall aim to increase the social inclusion of disadvantaged and marginalised groups through volunteering in partner countries and to share already existing experience/practices/tools in the field.
The Platform acted as a coordinator for this project in cooperation with seven other partners:
• Volunteer Ireland
• Frivilligcentre og Selvhjælp Danmark (FriSe)
• ÖKA – National Volunteer Centre, Hungary
• Volunteer Centre Osijek, Croatia
• PRO VOBIS – National Volunteer Centre, Romania
• brīvprātīgais.lv, Latvia
• Vol.To, Italy
Project Objectives:
1. To share experience among partner countries on how to involve people from vulnerable groups into volunteering.
2. To create recommendations for volunteer coordinators for cooperation with different groups of vulnerable volunteers (people with hearing and visual impairment, migrants, seniors, people with mental health difficulties, etc.). Recommendations for volunteer coordinators on how to develop a more inclusive volunteer programme
3. To collect and publish good examples from partner countries that can serve as an inspiration for other volunteer centres and volunteer involving organizations.
Time Frame: August 2013 – July 2015
During the project run, the partners were participating at international meetings organized in each partner country. The goal of these meetings was to share various good examples of involvement of people with disabilities or disadvantaged groups into volunteering but also to work together on project products (Collection of Good Examples and Recommendations for Volunteer Coordinators on how to work with marginalized groups in volunteering).
Meetings were held in this order:
• The first meeting took place in Bratislava on November 14 – 15, 2013
• The second meeting of partners was organized on March 6 – 7, 2014 in Dublin, Ireland
• The third session was held in Copenhagen, Denmark on June 26 – 27, 2014
• The fourth one was implemented from September 30 till October 1, 2014 in Turin, Italy
• The fifth meeting was organized by Hungarian colleagues in Budapest on January 22 – 23, 2015
• The sixth time the project partners met in Cluj-Napoca, Romania on March 12 – 13, 2015
• The seventh meeting took place on April 22 – 23, 2015 in Zadar, Croatia
• The last meeting of this partnership happened on June 18 – 19, 2015 in Riga, Latvia
Partnership that was formed thanks to this project was functioning really well and in addition to precious experience and valuable products, it was also a basis for new personal friendships and future cooperation. We hope that the project results will support volunteer involving organizations to be more open, they will convince them that everybody can participate in volunteering and will provide them with information that can help them to overcome their fear of hesitance of engaging people with disabilities or from marginalized groups into volunteering.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.