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Description
Seniors deal with various issues, such as social exclusion, loss of self-confidence and sense of usefulness. That leads to the deterioration of their mental and physical health. Also, it is known the amount of senior citizens in the population will grow up to 30% in several few years, it is of utmost importance to develop work with this target group. These are reflected in the municipal social strategies (in Prague 7 and Prague city) as well as in national policies (Strategic Framework of Preparation for Population Ageing 2021 - 2025, Ministry of Social Affairs).To prevent these issues, we will involve the seniors into regular volunteering activities and connect them with younger generations in our activities. We are planning activities to support multigenerational active participation in a local community in Prague 7 or a new soft-skills educational programme for seniors based on their concrete needs. We are planning to create a Map of Help, which will clarify the organisations and volunteering opportunities in the community.We will also pilot test selected features of the innovative Danish model of senior education centre in our programmes, which will be summarized in the final output describing the methodological framework of direct work with seniors. So, as a result, we will be able to not only improve the quality of our activities, but also to inspire other organisations working with seniors and communities and stakeholders (such as municipalities) in Prague, but also in various regions in the Czech Republic.It is also important that the Prague 7 municipality is a partner in this project, cooperating closely on the activities and outputs, making sure they will continue after this project is finished.
Summary of project results
The activities in this project respond to the situation of the elderly and the community of inhabitants, which is described in the Strategic Plan of the City of Prague and the Prague 7 Municipality. They identify an increase in the number of clients with mental illness and psychological problems, insufficient opportunities for lifelong learning, the slow response of Prague to prolonging the active life of seniors, and insufficient facilities for strengthening community life and civic activities and connecting people. We also draw on the Strategic Framework for Preparing for an Ageing Society (MLSA, 2021-2025), according to which the share of seniors in the total population will increase significantly in the coming years, and one of the problems of this age group is their low activity level, they are at risk of social exclusion and poverty. In the project we address the needs of active people in the community who lack support and facilities to realize their plans, goals, to meet, to create new offline networks.
Thanks to the implementation of the project, two new freely disseminated materials have been created, covering new and developing topics of community and senior activities and touching upon two innovative elements of volunteering - informal volunteering of individuals in public space and the active approach of seniors in creating the programme and content of the senior centre (the so-called Danish model). The team has been trained as planned and training is now ongoing based on project development needs. 15 volunteers with a contract have been engaged, a further 5 volunteers were in training at the end of the project and some are working with us on a one-off basis without a contract. During the first part of the project implementation, the Agora 7 Volunteer Centre was opened, where workshops and development activities have taken place, with approximately 114 unique participants attending. A web-based microsite was launched to provide information from the Volunteer Centre and a schedule of activities. A unique Neighbourhood Guide to Prague 7 was produced and presented at 2 roundtable meetings, 4 podcasts on volunteering were produced. 53 seniors have been involved in the Danish model project and regularly give lessons and training courses. An evaluated methodology of the Danish model was developed.
The project was implemented thanks to the cooperation of partner organisations, each of which gained new know-how, experience and set up new working methods thanks to their involvement. The Elpida and Ninin sen organisations jointly developed a methodology of the Danish model, a way of active involvement of seniors in the creation and content of activities of activity centres, and gained a valuable opportunity to verify its functioning in practice in the context of conditions and possibilities in the Czech Republic. The Agora 7 Foundation has built a functional Volunteer Centre, which, in addition to involving regular, so-called formal volunteers, develops opportunities to support informal volunteering. This is also through dissemination of informations and motivation of local actors. Most of the activities took place on the territory and in close cooperation with the Prague 7 municipality, which thanks to the project strengthened networking with local NGOs. The primary target group of the project, seniors, gained the opportunity to engage in a range of volunteer and community activities and become part of a wider community of active local seniors.