Volunteering

Are we quite sure that the Europeans are really so indifferent to the world of volunteering? The truth is that, despite the common clichés, even when people are  interested in, especially younger, they do not know where take information. In short, there is a mismatch between supply and demand. A [...]

Belgian Civil Protection is searching for 400 volunteers which may assist in the area search for missing persons or in case of disasters. Town of Anversa, west Flanders and Luxembourg province are the areas where there’s a deepest lack of this kind of professional figures

In 2010 in Poland 2.5 billion of hours were spent on activities outside the market in the charity field between charitable activities and services to religious institutions. This is reported for the first time by the National Bureau of Statistics that also notes that 62% of the volunteers are women.

In super-catholic Poland, citizens are not only poorly but also badly informed about voluntary work. In fact, almost 80% of the population is sure that they are doing standard charity work by simply donating a coin to a homeless person or by sending an SMS for charity purposes. It goes [...]

After an agenda full of events and debates, the European Year of Voluntary Activities (2011) achieves its first concrete result: the Communication on EU Policies and Volunteering: Recognising and Promoting Cross-border Voluntary Activities in the EU. In this cold definition, typical of every formal European document, we find an achievable [...]

In times of economic hardship we know, everything seems to be allowed, but replacing paid work with the volunteer one is certainly not so noble. It seems that since in the Old Continent the coffers of states do not enjoy good health, this practice has had a strong surge. The [...]

In a so difficult moment for Spanish economy, the Government has arranged a consultation with the so called “organizaciones de acciòn social”, in order to collaborate with them and contain the crisis. The “Programa Nacional de Reformas 2011”, focused on Spanish economic problems, expresses the need of a direct involvement of [...]

In France, the so-called “portfolio of competences” has finally come into being. It is a new instrument able to describe better one person’s experiences and qualifications, especially in the social and voluntary sectors. Such a portfolio is the result of the work of a group attached to the French Ministry [...]

82% of French young people who leave for the international voluntary service graduated. This was announced by an Ipsos survey. It also points out that the majority have many difficulties when they returned home. The main, concern the frustration of not being able to share the experience with friends and [...]

French young people are more and more responsibles and socialy committed. Indeed, with the entry into force of the new law for career development and alternance, all French sixteen year olds will be able to create a social  association. Until now the age of majority was necessary for engage itself [...]

Unlike what happened in Great Britain, in France the reflection on social economy has not been enhanced by politicians. In May 2010, in order to promote an economic system that may respect the environment and human beings, twelve of the most important representatives of Third Sector signed a call for [...]

Investing savings to support development projects in poor countries or in companies that deal with disabilities. These are just some examples of what has been dubbed the Solidarity finance that, over the years, has benne attracting the trust of thousands of French investors. A special category of investment, although still [...]

As for social economy, Germany represents an atypical case. In 2009, at the height of the economic crisis, the German Government decided to implement a “social market economy”. Even if it is different from “social economy”, these two models have some specific values in common. In Germany many principles that [...]

Countdown to the new voluntary service (BFD). From July 1, with the end of conscription, will enter into force in Germany, the reform of the volunteering, that will become federal competence. There are three important changes. First, participation in the BFD does not replace  military service anymore, so it won’t [...]

36% of all Germans older than 14 years commit themselves to voluntary work, which are around 23 million people. 10% of them are actively involved in voluntary services within the area of sports and physical activities, followed by ‘children and education services’ (6.9%) and ‘church and religion services’ (6.9%). To [...]

Almost a third of Germans over the age of 14 work in an honorary capacity, according to the third ‘Survey on Voluntary Engagement’, which was recently presented by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs. The study shows that older people’s voluntary engagement considerably rose over the last five years, especially [...]

The fall of the myth of the Old Continent land of volunteers and generous donors. Indeed, according to the last World Giving Index, a ranking about 153 nations that aims to analyse global generosity in giving money, time as a volunteer or helping a stranger, Europe ranks third after Australasia [...]

In Italy, 84% of the Service Centers for Volunteering has an office specifically deputy to communication. This is one of the data that emerges from the new Cesvot book, which highlighted how this type of activities has not just promotional functions, but responds in particular to identity and organizational needs.

The National Office for Civil Service makes it known that, this morning, the Court of Appeal of Milan upheld the request for the suspension of the effectiveness of the order No.15243/11RG issued by the Judge of First Instance on January 9, 2012. Therefore, the departures of the young volunteers scheduled [...]

All those who do not agree with the suspension of the departure of the volunteers of the Civil Service, recently decided by the National Office, now have the opportunity to make their voices heard. Since last Saturday, in fact, it is possible to sign the online petition, which, in a [...]

In Italy, following the order of the Court of Milan, which declared discriminatory the requirement of citizenship for the participation in civil service projects, it was decided to suspend the departure for thousands of young volunteers. A provision that has sparked many protests from the associations. But how? The ones, [...]

In Sardinia, a circular letter by the Department of Hygiene, Health and Social Care, announces that the contributions to the voluntary associations that operate in the field of the assistance to infirm people, will be paid, starting from those for 2011, by the local health units. Consult all the documents

More than 17% of Spaniards claim to have in the past year suspended or reduced charity. Many financial donations were replaced with other types of aid such as food, clothing or volunteer. This was announced by the Adecco Foundation. Which adds that the privileged sector is children, followed by disability and elderly.

The Ngo Solidaridad Internacional, in collaboration with 11 other Spanish associations, created a social network, Facecoop, entirely dedicated to the third sector. A tool structured around 4 themes (participation, environment, gender equality and poverty) which will allow the actors involved in voluntary to exchange best practices and share experiences and [...]

On May 27 it will be the final deadline to participate to the sixth edition of Certamen Iniciativa Solidaria. A program of the Spanish NGO Jóvenes y Desarrollo, reserved for young people aged between 12 and 20 years, that want to see funded their ideas and projects of solidarity for [...]

Thanks to the tax donations of Spanish citizens, the Iberian no profit sector has received in 2010 over € 266 million. This amount served to realize numerous social projects managed by NGOs and voluntary associations in favor of some 5 million citizens.

According to a survey by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS), 82% of Spanish respondents are not aware that 2011 has been declared the European Year of Volunteering. The Iberian citizens also prefer to donate rather than spend their time in activities such solidarity.

An army of 20,000 volunteers will be needed in UK for a new initiative to help children play safely outdoors. Campaign group Play England says children should be able to play outside safely. The government has given £2m directly from the Big Society Fund.

The David Cameron’s Big Society begins to take shape with the opening of 24 "Free School" in the whole of Her Majesty territory. Designed to meet the needs of the poorest and most disadvantaged areas of England, these institutions have mainly the characteristic to be founded by parents, teachers, charity [...]

Big Society without borders. This is the way how the International Citizen Service (ICS) is called in England. The fact that youngsters spend their sabbatical year abroad brings double benefits. On one hand it contributes to poor country’s development, on the other hand it enables youngsters to gain an highly [...]

The idea of Big Society does not convince the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. In an article written for the Labour newspaper New Statesman ), indeed, the Archbishop simply “excommunicates” the economic policy adopted by Prime Minister David Cameron. According to Williams, behind Cameron’s fascinating slogans (such as “power to [...]

The debate around the "Big Society" continues to be scorching, a project launched by Cameron during the election campaign to radically reform the system of citizens services. Understandable when critics come from the Labor Party or the third sector, astonishing when they come from the Prime Minister's closest collaborators and [...]

From today to help others it’s enough just a touch: the application for mobile +U aims to get the interactive web community a taste of volunteering. In practice, a social gaming where you progress by completing volunteer work. The initiative has been announced by Sony and YouthNet.

Amnesty International has just turned 50. Born in 1961 in fact, on May 2, the International organization has blow out the candles and celebrated organizing events around the world to promote respect and promotion of human rights.

Volunteering is a crucial resource for solving many problems facing society today. It  is mostly represented by unpaid activities, performed or not through formal organizations and carried out for the good of the community. However, the social and economic contribution of this work is difficult to quantify. On this basis, [...]

One year after the earthquake, the measures implemented and, in particular, the emergency conditions still faced by many children in Haiti are reported.

The fall of the myth of the Old Continent land of volunteers and generous donors. Indeed, according to the last World Giving Index, a ranking about 153 nations that aims to analyse global generosity in giving money, time as a volunteer or helping a stranger, Europe ranks third after Australasia [...]