Description
The project addresses the need of the applicant to boost its organizational and financial sustainability to provide better services to low-income and socially disadvantaged people. The project aims at raising the applicant’s sustainability by raising the knowledge and skills of its team and volunteers. First, 12 people from the applicant’s team and volunteers will be selected for training. Second, the group will attend a series of training courses, i.e. a 2-day course in volunteering, a 2-day seminar in the project cycle and funding from the EU Funds and a 2-day course in social services and delegated activities. Finally, the group will study the practices of 4 other NGOs actively working with volunteers and providing social services. The project will benefit the applicant’s employees, volunteers and clients and the local community.
Summary of project results
The project addressed the need of the Charity Catholic Organization Vitania to boost its organizational and financial sustainability to provide better services to low-income and socially disadvantaged people. The training sessions held under the project helped the volunteers and staff members involved acquire new knowledge that can be of use in their work. The training sessions, group work and the introduction of the foreign experience greatly encouraged the volunteers to get involved in the activity of the organization and initiate and implement new ideas. The number of volunteers who took part in the training sessions surpassed the initial expectations and thus 28 members from the organization’s network were trained in view of their future involvement in the activity of the organization. Many of them expressed their interest in writing to be volunteers and stated how they want and believe they can be of use to the organization. The sustainability of the achieved project results will be ensured by involving volunteers in the development of project proposals by means of additional training provided to further develop their capacity and by hiring some of them as employees. A particularly important project outcome was the agreement concluded between the organization and Rakovski Municipality for cooperation in the area of developing the volunteers’ network in the municipality. The following outcomes were developed: a business idea for a social enterprise; a business plan that will be further developed with the help of volunteers and employees trained in social entrepreneurship; a cooperation agreement between Vitania Charity Catholic Organization and Rakovski Municipality.
Summary of bilateral results