Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Our EVS volunteer at Sussex Central YMCA



EVS at SUSSEX YMCA in Hove with Concordia

From June to December 2013 Concordia had the pleasure to host Karim, a volunteer from our partner organisation Concordia France, who came to support the activities of the Sussex Central YMCA http://www.sussexcentralymca.org.uk   based in Hove through the EVS programme, funded by the Youth in Action programme (now Erasmus + programme).

 
Karim came from Bordeaux and this was his first international volunteer experience and first time away from his home town for an extended period of time
As an EVS volunteer, he worked along side qualified Sussex Central YMCA’s staff members to support the young people’s sport programmes and help to deliver sports training and activities.
He took part in many activities such as coaching sports such as football, basketball and tennis to the local young people and using these types of activities to promote an active lifestyle to young people as well as teaching team work, leadership, planning and preparation skills, motivation and building self-esteem. 

The Sussex Central YMCA offers many other activities and runs summer schemes for young people as well as engaging with older people and people with disabilities. Karim engaged in all the activities and used these to promote a healthy lifestyle and education through sports and outdoor activities.
Whilst here Karim learnt a lot of new skills such as first aid, child care, sport coaching as well as massively improving his English both spoken and written. He met lots of new friends and participated in activities outside the project, such as joining a local theatre group, couch surfing groups and supporting local people learning French. After going back home he stayed in touch with his new friends and even came back to visit during summer 2014.
Karim gave a great contribution towards this goals by working with youth, adults and elderly from all walks of life in west Hove and Brighton, enjoying particularly the Holiday Programme organised by Sussex YMCA during the summer for youth with several degree of disabilities.
He also learnt skills that he wasn’t expecting to learn…such as repairing bikes!
The EVS programme also provided him the opportunity to attend English classes so that he could study and practice and take fully advantage of his experience in the UK, learning more about British culture through learning its language.

Karim said, at the end of his project: “The project was really interesting, varied and I learnt a lot from it. It was a very interesting and reach project”.


EVS is a great tool for young people to volunteer for 6-12 months in any country in Europe and provides the opportunity to learn about other cultures, become an active European citizen, tackle stereotypes, prejudices, xenophobia, inequality and racism, as well as encouraging respect for the environment and the inclusion of all people in the life of the community, no matter what the social economical background is.
 
So, if you are interested in volunteering for 6-12 months, live independently in a European country and volunteer for a local community or organisation, learning at the same time a new language and deepening the understanding of a new culture as Karim did …well, there is only one thing to do: join EVS!! http://www.concordiavolunteers.org.uk/overseas-volunteering/european-voluntary-service/



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