The volunteers will develop their projects in El Patio, a youth participation project in cooperation with the Avilés City Council Youth Department.
They will both support, in one hand, the co-ordination of El Patio and their activities, running English workshops, cultural events, office work, etc… and then each of them will have specific tasks depending on their role in the office. Specific role description is detailed below.
About El Patio
El Patio gathers several projects related to young people’s spare time, non-formal education, mobility, participation and citizenship. It seeks to promote youth participation, social cohesion and responsibility at a local level through youth activities and youth committees involved in decision-making processes. We are coordinated under the umbrella of the Avilés Youth Services and we work with young people from a wide range of ages (15-20 and 21-30), backgrounds and capacities – some of them with fewer opportunities- using non-formal education methods. We organize activities for young people (workshops, leisure activities, civic education activities, english classes, radio, informative meetings, youth mobility activities,sexual education, etc) and we run Youth Committees that are involved in the planning and implementation of monthly activities and seasonal programmes. We are also starting to develop youth committees involved in decision-making processes at local level.
We accept volunteers with reduced mobility or special needs. Our accomodation and the office is adapted for wheel chair users.
Role description and tasks
Volunteer 1: We are seeking a person interested in helping us with our local participatory projects with young people. In particular the volunteer will support mainly 2 specific projects: “Consejo de infancia” and “Transit”.
El “Consejo de Infancia” (Children´s and adolescent´s Council) of Avilés gathers children and young people from 9 to 17 years old who meet and work together on some goals focusing on the improvement of the town from their point of view, promoting children’s rights, etc. The project encourages children and youth participation and some of their proposals are discussed and supported by local authorities.
The “Transit” project runs a group educational processes based on non-formal methodologies and on a one to one coaching approach with young people in NEET situation or in risk of facing it.
The weekly tasks Volunteer 1 will be in charge of are the following:
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To coordinate and lead weekly English language cafe and conversation groups on foreign languages for young people.
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To support the designing and facilitation of activities for young people.
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To support the facilitation of “El Patio Youth Committees” meetings. These committees are in charge of designing and developing different spare time activities.
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To build collaborative relationships with a wide range of stakeholders (youngsters, youth workers, politicians, teachers, families, etc…)
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To help promote the activities by managing our social media channels, writing posts and small articles.
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To support the activities developed in “Transit” projects.
– To support the group dinamics created during the sessions.
– To organize activities, together with the responsible of the project, connected with the topic of motivation, employment, coaching,etc…
– To attend regular meetings with young people.
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To support the activities developed in “Consejo de infancia”:
– To support in the preparation of The European Meeting of Children´s councils.
– To organize activities connected with different topico like domestic violence, children´s rights, refugees,etc…
– To attend regular meetings with children.
– To support team work during meetings.
The working schedule is between 30-36 hours a week. Normally Monday-Friday. Mornings from 10.00-14.00 and afternoons from 17.00-19.30. Days off are normally Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes we work on Saturdays then the days off will be Sunday and Monday.
Volunteer 2: We are looking for a person to help us to develop a visual communication strategy to promote and disseminate our activities. In particular the volunteer will support us to design flyers, create small videos and take pictures of our activities and be in charge of boostering our social media (Facebook and blog) as well as everything that can help us to make our activities more visible.
The weekly tasks of Volunteer 2 will be in charge of are the following:
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To coordinate and lead weekly English language cafe and conversation groups on foreign languages for young people.
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To support the designing and facilitation of activities for young people.
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To help in the creation of a visual communication strategy of the Youth Service activities.
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To help promote activities by managing our social media channels, designing posters, writing posts and small articles.
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To make videos and take pictures of our activities.
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To build collaborative relationships with a wide range of stakeholders (youngsters, youth workers, politicians, teachers, families, environmental workers, environmental organisations, etc…).
The working schedule is between 30-36 hours a week. Normally Monday-Friday. Mornings from 10.00-14.00 and afternoons from 17.00-19.30. Days off are normally Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes we work on Saturdays then the days off will be Sunday and Monday.
General profile of the volunteers
– Motivated to work face to face with a wide range of young people in a collaborative way.
– Willing to be involved in a wide range of activities involving young people (outdoor activities, creative workshops, meetings, etc)and sharing parts of their culture (language workshops, intercultural events, etc.)
– Ability to develop and facilitate group activities and programs.
– Open to new experiences and challenges.
– Able to use social media, and IT.
– Willing to work flexibly including some evenings and weekends.
– A commitment to support colleagues and work as a team.
– Able to speak and understand some Spanish. (Recommended)
Specific profile for Volunteer 1
– Interested in working with groups of youngsters and children using non formal methodologies.
– Experience as a participant or as a facilitator in participation processes.
– Experience of running non-formal education activities.
– Flexibility and improvisation capacity.
– Motivation to learn by doing.
Specific profile for Volunteer 2
– Knowledge in the use of video and picture editing software and design programs.
– Interested in creating videos, take pictures and the use of other artistic supports.
– Interested in Graphic design tools.
– Flexibility and improvisation capacity.
– Creativity and interest in Arts.
Application
If you want to be part of the selection proccess, please send us in .pdf your CV plus a motivation letter to europaqui@gmail.com answering the following questions.
Volunteer 1 (Youth Participation)
1. What is your main motivation to apply for this vacancy?
2. What is your experience participating in activities for youth or working with young people and what is the role you prefer assuming in this kind of work?
3. What is your understanding about youth participation and your idea about how should it be promoted?
4. If you were chosen, what would you enjoy the most doing at El Patio? And the least?
5. Contact details of your sending organisation.
Volunteer 2 (Visual communication strategy)
1. What is your main motivation to apply for this vacancy?
2. What is you experience working with visual communication?
3. Tell us some concrete ideas to promote and disseminate our activities here in el Patio.
4. If you were chosen, what would you enjoy the most doing in this project? And the least?
5. Share with us some examples of your experience in visual communication or graphic design ( videos, photos, flyers,etc…)
6. Contact details of your sending organisation.