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.
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.
