IMProVE 2:0 - Inclusive Methos in Professional Volunteering in Europe

"<< Background >>The partner organizations noticed that from the political point of view, the importance of inclusive volunteering is recognised for quite some time, and the “Diversity and Inclusion Strategy” of the new Erasmus+ programme shows the importance of this matter on a European level. Nevertheless too little had been done so far to put these strategies into practice. One prominent commonality in all European countries is the disparity between the declaration of inclusiveness with most of the volunteers involving organizations (VIOs) and the actual situation: most of them do not systematically involve people with disabilities as volunteers or have a strategy and activities on inclusive volunteering. And all across Europe people with disabilities are less likely to volunteer and lack opportunities to do so.A comprehensive approach to promote, support and for implementing inclusive volunteering was still missing. The opportunities volunteering offers, are often lacking for people with disabilities: providing help, where it is needed, gaining a sense of contribution, building relationships, learning new skills, and personal development.<< Objectives >>We strongly believe that everyone should have equal opportunities to participate in community life and become active citizens. However, many people with disabilities face barriers. Therefore, one of our objectives was to identify these barriers and address them in cooperation with all target groups involved in the project. Our intention was to help create more inclusive communities that welcome people with disabilities as volunteers. We encouraged organizations that work with volunteers to be open to volunteers with disabilities. We also collaborated with parents, caretakers, and institutions supporting people with disabilities, as they often play a key role in facilitating social inclusion for these individuals. Our primary focus, however, was on people with disabilities themselves: to empower them to become volunteers, help them discover the benefits of volunteering, and show them that becoming a volunteer is a valuable and achievable path.Another objective of the project was to support education in volunteering, for volunteers themselves, for inclusion buddies (also volunteers, support for volunteers with disability), for parents and caretakers and for volunteer coordinators in volunteer involving organization.<< Implementation >>We developed and implemented a comprehensive system able to support volunteering by people with disabilities, acting on several levels, involving all the microsystems that could impact the volunteering experience of a person with disability: coordinating organization providing personal support and training, hosting organization, parents, caregivers and caretaker, the general public. So we developed:a volunteer buddy system to provide volunteers with disabilities (pwd) with additional support, assisting and developing them in their role. We trained the first inclusion buddies and we started to match them in tandems to make volunteering inclusive;info sessions were held to promote volunteering and the concept of inclusion buddies among the direct beneficiaries (people with disabilities and mental health issues interested in volunteering), so to make them aware that volunteering is a life opportunity for all. Strategies to make it real have been developed.a) strategies for inclusive volunteering within Volunteer Involving Organizations (ViOs). These include a training curriculum, pilot training for coordinators, a collection of best practices (photobook), policy recommendations, and guidelines on creating more inclusive volunteer programs and environments. b) a comprehensive system to work with parents and caregivers, whose support is crucial for volunteers with disabilities. This system encourages them to allow their children/clients to volunteer, motivate them, and provide ongoing support. We created a Handbook for Caregivers and Parents, designed an information session concept, and produced a promotional video.c) We implemented the development of tools and a training structure to support people with disabilities in becoming active volunteers in their local communities. We piloted two rounds of training, matching volunteers, organizing information sessions, and conducting two volunteer activities in each country: Wheelmap and Check Your Place. d) campaigns and PR work, stakeholder meetings, events and gatherings we created, as we wanted to change people's mind-sets and perception on pwd: not to see them only as recipients of support and help, but as active members of their community, who could contribute in a positive way to society.During the project, all project partners involved volunteers with disabilities in own and other volunteering activities, so we saw volunteers in practice and also tested the functionality of the developed system. They volunteered in sporting events, cleaning the local park and urban areas, in projects involving primary school pupils, animal care, etc. but also in project implementation.And we also organized many extra activities - organized various activities to promote inclusion and volunteering. These included multiple conferences, workshops, and training sessions, such as one focused on easy language. We held online seminars, facilitated international dissemination for participants, and conducted presentations for high school students to raise awareness about inclusive volunteering. Other events included a panel discussion, an exhibition, and a methodological morning for specialists.We supported inclusive volunteering through study visits that engaged professionals, focusing on training inclusion buddies. Our good practice events, such as The Power of Disability - Changing Attitudes, and school presentations on disability and volunteering emphasized the importance of fostering inclusion and shifting societal perceptions. And pwd were active participants in our transnational meetings and work.<< Results >>The IMProVE 2.0 project produced a comprehensive framework to promote and support volunteering among people with disabilities (PWD), significantly increasing their participation rate. Here are the main outputs and results:IO1 - Acquisition, Training, and Support of Voluntary “Inclusion Buddies”:We developed and implemented a buddy system where trained ""Inclusion Buddies"" provide additional support to volunteers with disabilities, helping them adapt to and grow within their volunteer roles. Concrete results include a job description and standards for Inclusion Buddies, a training curriculum, two pilot training sessions, and 40 trained Inclusion Buddies.IO2 - Provision of Inclusive Volunteer Programs and Quality Volunteer Management in Volunteer Involving Organizations (ViOs):Inclusive strategies were developed and implemented within ViOs to create more welcoming volunteer programs. This involved creating a good practice collection (photobook), a research report, concept for successfully involving ViOs, a pool of 40 local inclusive volunteer opportunities, and promotional materials (video and brochure). Additionally, pilot trainings and a Training curriculum for volunteer coordinators were established, along with Policy recommendations for promoting inclusive volunteering and Setup of ViO networks.IO3 - Development of promotion tools, trainings and support structure for enhancing in disability facilities and among caretakers and parents of people with disabilitiesWe developed Manual for caretakers and caregivers (Curriculum for staff development training on inclusive volunteering+Policy recommendations on how to promote and support inclusive volunteering in support services for people with disabilities (Manual Chapter 3)), Concept Counselling service for parents and staff, Curriculum for info session and parent talk, Promotional video for caretakers, Pilot testing of training, two rounds in each country, we trained 163 caregivers in total. IO4 - Promotion Tools, Training, and Support Structure to Enhance Volunteering Among PWD:We trained and supported over 60 PWD to become volunteers, more than 50% still volunteering. Key results include: information session concepts for people with intellectual and physical disabilities, accessible promotional materials (videos and a photobook), instructions for a pool of volunteer ""taster"" sessions, two local volunteer activities involving PWD (organised within the project in each partner country), a volunteer training curriculum, new matching methods, and ongoing support for PWD volunteers.IO5 - Promotion Tools for Inclusive Volunteering to Specific and General Public:To shift the perception of PWD from recipients of support to active community members, we launched awareness campaigns. Outputs include a traveling exhibitions in 5 languages, a social media and PR campaign, policy recommendations for stakeholders, 24 “Stakeholder Breakfasts,” (reached 282 stakeholders), an international conference in the Czech Republic and an international online workshop for experts in the volunteer and disability sectors, and two promotional project videos. Each of these outputs contributes to a comprehensive approach to promoting inclusive volunteering. Materials are available in English, German, Czech, Italian, and Lithuanian and have been disseminated on local, regional, national, and European levels."