VOLUNTARY SERVICE is...

Voluntary service is an exchange between an individual, or a group of individuals, and a local community. The volunteer or group of volunteers offers time, energy and effort to a project of benefit to a community, and via this project the community offers to the volunteer or group of volunteers an opportunity for experimentation, learning and personal and collective development.

Based on a document produced by Cotravaux, France.

What is a WORKCAMP?

A PLACE TO MEET and break down differences of:

· Nationality
· Politics, religion, outlook
· Age and generation
· Culture
· Lifestyle

A WAY OF BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS with:

· Young people in a group situation
· Different voluntary and youth organisations
· Different people in a city, a village or a neighbourhood
· Elected representatives, social workers, and local institutions

A SOCIAL ACTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

· For everyone in the community
· Improving people's conditions of life and their human, cultural, material and natural environment
· Based on a permanent partnershipo, part of a longer term strategy, not just a one-off
· Where the main role is played by the beneficiaries of the project

A PLACE TO LEARN GOOD CITIZENSHIP through:

· Voluntary commitment
· Collective voluntary action
· Practical work providing good experience and training
· Discovering yourself and others by experiencing differeces
· Understanding solidarity both inside and outside the group
· Using dialoque qs way of rresolving conflicts
· Discovering different regions, customs and cultures
· The integration of the workcamp in the local community and voluntary context
· Regular evaluation of all the actions undertaken

Based on a document produced by Cotravaux, France.