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Description
The project is a continuation of the project currently run by the partners, in which a strengthening training program for volunteers is being created, preventing their burnout, leading to better & longer work for the end beneficiaries - children in difficult life situations. The concept of creating the programme was the result of partners'' experience in the area of burnout, stress, decreased motivation and even depression of NGO volunteers, due to their dealing with difficult stories of pupils- children in difficult situations/ with a traumatic past. The proposed continuation of the topic results directly from the new needs of the target group (NGOs + volunteers) verbalised & communicated to the partners. The pandemic situation has created new problems for organisations working with children in the form of limited opportunities for physical contact between volunteers and children and in the organisation-volunteer contact/ support. At the same time, psychologists are increasingly alarming that children and adolescents are at the highest risk of suffering from the long-term negative psychological effects of pandemic isolation. In the case of representatives of this group, who were already in a difficult life situation - depriving them of support from volunteer tutors aggravates their complicated situation. The project meets these needs by creating an e-learning course that will enable the training of volunteers on-line & the work with them in this form and which will also, based on Norwegian & Polish experience, train how to deal with motivation in the crisis period and how to be creative and flexible about working methods in such periods so that the activities don’t stop (the goal). The project will have a long-term impact on NGOs & children in difficult situations in Poland (at least 100 people will benefit from the solution), but also in Norway & other EU countries, and has the potential for scalability to other groups working with people at risk of exclusion.
Summary of project results
The project was a continuation and development of the previously implemented project within the same consortium under the Education Programme. The result of the project is an on-line course dedicated to volunteers, co-ordinators and persons in charge for volunteering in NGOs. A problem that has been defined by the Partners in the course of its own statutory activities (Verum, CTW) and as a result of cooperation with NGOs (Coedro) concerns professional and adequate management of volunteers'' motivation as well as creating conditions for strengthening mental resilience and preventing burnout. This concerns mostly organisations taking care of traumatised, ill and at-risk children.
The lockdown has forced remote training but also revealed the need of having own-work resources, as well as enabling verification of the acquired knowledge during self-study. The result of the project is an interactive e-course meeting these expectations. After registration everyone has access to it, the selection of content allows to gain new knowledge, consolidate current knowledge, check the knowledge acquisition thanks to built-in quizzes, and finally gives tools for own work. A person who has completed the course and has given minimum 70% of correct answers will receive a certificate of course completion.
The ultimate beneficiaries are, in fact, children under the care of volunteers. Direct experience of consortium members as well as conducted interviews clearly confirm the assumed thesis that a motivated, mentally resilient volunteer is the most effective collaborator of a non-profit organisation, and his/ her effectiveness and ability to take care of intrinsic motivation and mental resilience has a direct positive impact on children''s well-being. Professionalism of volunteers, their high self-awareness and ability to cope with difficult stories of their charges can be reinforced, e.g. through training, and the designed e-course has filled the gap in training programmes in this area available on-line. The project will have a long-term impact on NGOs and children in difficult situation in Poland (we estimate that in the next 6 months approx. 100 people will use the tool), in Norway and other EU countries. It also has the scalability potential to other groups working with people at risk of exclusion.
Recommendations and a link to the e-course have already appeared on the social media of some NGOs.
Summary of bilateral results
The cooperation made it possible to understand the phenomenon of high involvement of Norwegian citizens in the III sector. The maturity of NGOs in Norway, their professionalism, as well as application of various solutions supporting the activity of volunteers taking care of people at risk of exclusion, especially children, allowed Polish partners to learn from this rich experience. Additionally, the Norwegian Partner had more experience in distance education, not so much used among Polish NGOs.The best proof of a good cooperation is the fact that this is the 2nd project implemented in a the same consortium. Thanks to the cooperation in the 1st project, the partners were able to identify the needs covered by this project: 1) access to remote work education that enables, in a situation of forced isolation, a person to support and continue his/ her own development; 2) access to content focused on uplift of the emotional and social competences of volunteers working with children in difficult situations. Competences in this regard, have a key impact on the efficiency of crisis management (in situations such as social isolation forced by a lockdown) and on the awareness of the factors shaping the well-being of the volunteer his-/herself and the well-being of the charges.When summarising the period of cooperation (starting in 2020) the partners expressed great satisfaction with the course of collaboration and confirmed readiness to continue it in subsequent projects in the common areas of interest: well-being of children - volunteers'' charges, well-being of volunteers, care for the environment and civil society. At the time of preparing the final report, it is not possible to indicate any future specific project yet, but the partners will stay in touch.