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Hosting a volunteer

If you are a volunteer hosting structure

Here you’ll find some advice for preparing to welcome and accompany volunteers.

Before the volunteer arrives, you should :

  • Designate a mentor from within your structure (tutor, guide) : he is responsible for welcoming and accompanying the volunteer throughout his volunteering experience. The mentor should :
    • Have a day to day relationship with the volunteer without being responsible for what the volunteer is doing,
    • Incorporate his mentoring in his activity schedule,
    • Be well acquainted with the host structure (how it runs, its programme and the volunteer’s activities) and be in liaison with the sending structure.
    • Identify a network of people who can help in accompanying the volunteer
    • Be a good listener and able to anticipate
  • Initiate exchanges with the volunteer : before, during and after, to give reassurance to the volunteer and those around him, deal with practical issues, be aware of and understand what each person expects (representatives of sending and host structures, the volunteer), plan together the programme for welcoming and integrating the volunteer and be able to adapt to all the circumstances.

Some advice :

    • Preparing to deal with inter-cultural relations and expatriation,
    • Consider how to guide the volunteer throughout his mission :
    • Send the volunteer documents on the structure, his environment (with names and addresses) and the welcome and integration programme.
    • Prepare your team and/or the public with whom the volunteer will be in contact during his volunteer mission
    • Check the logistics : office and accommodation ready for the arrival of the volunteer
    • Inform the French Ambassador of the volunteer’s arrival and the length of his stay
    • Be in touch with the Volunteer services of the country if possible ([www.evfv.org->http://www.evfv.org])

Welcoming and integrating the volunteer :

Each welcome is unique and should be seen as such. How you integrate the volunteer should be adapted to each volunteer and mentor (personality, character, experience, expectations) ; this makes it important to have been in touch with the volunteer before his arrival. 
The mentor (tutor, guide) must make himself available in the first few days, or weeks if necessary, to make sure that the volunteer is well received and integrated and establish a relation of trust. 

Advice :

  • Be at the airport yourself to welcome the volunteer
  • Get the volunteer settled in his accommodation
  • Make sure the volunteer has an Internet connection when he arrives
  • Organise a brief welcome ceremony in the host structure
  • Organise a tour of the structure and introduce the volunteer (to colleagues, partners, the public)
  • Organise a tour of the local facilities for the volunteer (bank, post office, cybercafé, pharmacy, clinic, restaurant, grocery etc.)
  • Organise a time for formal exchanges on the welcome and integration of the volunteer and enable him to express his feelings and ask questions
  • Allow the volunteer sufficient time to settle in and acclimatise before he begins the activities of his volunteer mission

To find out more :

Civic Service :

Download the Guide to Preparation days for International Civic Service 1.3 Mo – PDF

Download the Guide to Civic Service Tutoring 1.3 Mo – PDF

Download the Guide for host organisms 1.8 Mo – PDF

Others :

Read the [Guide to preparing the journey->http://ccfd-terresolidaire.org/ewb_pages/o/outil_535.php]. Document written by CCFD-Terre Solidaire for guides and those responsible for groups of young people about to depart.
[How to become a partner of France Volontaires->http://bd.france-volontaires.org:8080/nuxeo/nxfile/default/c1ffac6e-c189-4c80-8208-5515d6b0a0d8/blobholder:0/Adhesion.partenariat.pdf]

[Reference document->http://issuu.com/afpeja/docs/referentiel_volontariat] prepared by the AFPEJA and France Volontaires as a result of the seminar “Mutualisation des outils d’accompagnement du volontaire et mise en réseau France-Maroc” 2012 : advice and methods for setting up training in given geographical and cultural contexts, in particular in the Mediterranean basin.

EVS :

Accreditation – Guidelines
Accreditation exists to ensure that the promoters who participate in EVS are perfectly aware of the values, aims and rules of the EVS. These guidelines are intended to help promoters prepare their accreditation by explaining the procedure and the various points that are considered in the assessment.

[The “guidelines for training EVC volunteers” (2011)->http://ec.europa.eu/youth/documents/evs_vol_training_minimum_standards.pdf] is addressed to all those involved in training EVS volunteers.. EVS volunteer training plays a key role in the advice and assistance given to volunteers. The guidelines and minimum quality standards ensure that the volunteers receive appropriate and high quality training throughout their project.

Contacts

[More information on the possibilities and conditions for local reception->http://www.france-volontaires.org/-Dans-le-monde-]