Bethan shares her story for Volunteers' Week

"In June 2011, I went to a project in the Alpine region of northern Italy as part of my summer break from uni. For 2 weeks I lived on a mountain with 10 other volunteers, from countries including Turkey, Japan and South Korea. I was the only Brit and I loved it! I really got to know about what life is like in countries I’ve not yet been lucky enough to visit, and I made some friends for life. It was an exhausting two weeks – we were over 1000m above sea level, and cars could only get us up as far as 600m. But it was also really good fun - in the evenings we played games, cooked dinner together, and watched the stars. At the weekend we visited the local city, had a homemade Italian lunch, and went to a local festival.

The project involved monitoring the flora and fauna in the area. We took photos and made sketches of the flowers; caught butterflies in order to identify them before setting them free; and we set humane traps to see what mice are living on the mountain. That last one involved some very early mornings, and seeing the sunrise was wonderful. To be honest, it didn’t feel like work – we felt lucky to be in such a beautiful part of the world. It wasn’t a very long project but we knew we were making a difference – all that the Italian organisation needed was for a group of people to take some time to survey the mountainside, a task too big for the team of just 3 who work in the park. Our efforts made it into the local newspaper! It was an experience I’ll never forget, and I’m so pleased I was a part of it."

 Bethan 2014

Rich shares his story about his experience of EVS for Volunteers' Week 2014

"Volunteering has had a big effect on my life. After a couple of short workcamps in Slovakia and Iceland, I recently completed a year of EVS in France.

I am now able to speak another language well, and have made good friends with people I would otherwise have not been able to communicate with.

I urge anyone to at least consider the EVS scheme as a fantastic, funded way to discover another country and learn valuable skills for the future"

Rich 2014

Susie shares her story with us for Volunteers' Week 2014

"I came across Concordia in the summer of 2011 when looking for an overseas volunteering project in Nepal. From the moment of asking for more details to being in the orphanage Concordia staff could not have been more helpful, friendly and professional. The fact that I had to go on training before I could participate in a project gave me confidence of Concordia’s professional approach, and the training was FANTASTIC!! I met such great, like-minded people and the training was really thought provoking and helped me in my project.

Since 2011, I love every opportunity to be involved with Concordia; having participated in a project in Nepal (which was AMAZING!), assisted Concordia staff in conducting North-South training, been a volunteering coordinator on a UK  project in Sussex, and then assisted with the coordinator training. Ooh, and I also help with the project inputting every year. I always meet fabulous people every time I volunteer and cannot thank the Concordia staff enough for their welcoming and inclusive attitude to volunteering… they always make me feel like I belong there and even when we are busy, we have fun along the way!

Personally and professionally, getting involved with Concordia is one of the most rewarding things I have done and I can’t wait for the next training in June! GET INVOLVED – IT’S GREAT!!"

 

Susie 2014

Luke shares his story for Volunteers' Week 2014

 

 Our volunteer Luke sharing with us his volunteer experience for Volunteers' Week 2014

"My experience with Concordia was the best two weeks of my life. A life changing experience in which I met amazing new people from a range of different countries. The work was interesting, challenging and fun!

With Concordia I went to Crotone in Southern Italy, ranging from days at the beach to excursions to the nearby castle and days working on our project. I really enjoyed volunteering - so much so I am going again with Concordia to Germany this summer and really looking forward to an exciting trip!"

Luke 2014

Our volunteer Viktoria describes her experience volunteering on one of our UK projects

Viktoria spent 2 weeks over the summer on one of our UK projects Pestalozzi! Read about her experience as an International volunteer in East Sussex.   

I spent this summer (2013), in Pestalozzi Village as a volunteer.

First and foremost, I am entirely glad to have the experience of being part of such a friendly team. I am grateful to all people in Pestalozzi for such a warm welcome and all the care during the project.

There were wonderful volunteers from all around the world: Spain, Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, two coordinators from England and me from Ukraine. We were doing renovation of the education building, constructing the wooden beds, clearing and weeding the field and the rose garden. 

In the evenings we had lots of activities, hilarious games and lots of fun. We all found new friends. The feeling that there are no borders between the countries came to me.

Secondly, I was greatly impressed by the beautiful peculiar nature of the East Sussex area. Smooth curves of the hills, lots of trees and lovely houses in Sedlescombe create very bright picture of the life in Britain. For us, it was not only a work camp, but also a calm place where we could breathe fresh air and could see the sky with stars. So different from the crowded cities! Moreover, we spent our weekends by the seaside in Hastings and had a picnic in historical old Battle.

Thirdly, we were lucky to try British food in all its diversity. Brilliant cooks treated us with delicious food every day: from fish and chips to English breakfasts. I suppose, due to such tasty food all members of the volunteer team were strong enough to work productively. Now I have the recipe of the Sweet and Sour Chicken and can cook it for my family in the Ukraine.

In conclusion, I want to say that I really want to come back to such a nice place. Lots of memories, funny stories in our team make me smile and I dream to visit England again. Thank you very much!

 For more information about Pestalozzi click here