Tag: Youth Centers UP

The first week of the Youth Centres UP 2 project (first team of international volunteers for 30 days), in which an unused heating building is turned into a centre for the youth of a neighbourhood within about a month, started with team building activities.
This was followed by a shallow transition to the actual work on the centre, which, if one disregards the two-meter-deep hole in the entrance area, is a good starting point. So, initially divided into three teams with their own areas of responsibility, but ultimately as one team, we set to work.

Within three days, we performed the following tasks:

• Cleaning the garden and the building
• Scraping the walls
• Removing holes from the walls, leveling them and preparing them for painting
• Cutting trees
• Redesigning and making furniture

In parallel, we made a constant effort to involve the community by ending each of the days at the future youth centre with a joint community engagement. We talked to as many people as possible and collected opinions and ideas in order to design the place according to the wishes of the neighbourhood.
So, in conclusion, all we can say is that if we have been able to learn and create so much in such a short time, we can only look forward to the coming period with joy!

We are looking for new local volunteers for the second edition of Youth Centres UP.

Youth Centres UP 2 is a long-term project organised by Timis County Youth Foundation (FITT) through the European Solidarity Corps (ESC), in which 10 international volunteers from different countries and local volunteers are involved in setting up 10 new youth centres in the neighbourhoods of Timisoara. Through this project, we promote the participation of young people, as well as social inclusion, human rights, and solidarity. 

The project is a follow-up to its first edition organised by FITT in 2019, which had a real success, resulting in 5 new Youth Centres in the municipality of Timisoara: Calea Aradului, Calea Martirilor, Calea Șagului, Lipovei, Dâmbovița. It was one of the biggest projects organised ever in the county and in Romania: more than 90 international and local volunteers were involved in the renovation of the spaces for the Youth Centres. 

This is an incredible opportunity for the community and the youth of Timisoara and Timis county, an initiative that seeks to make them participate in the development of their neighbourhoods.  

For this year’s edition, they are the volunteers that are already here, ready to break the ground and build the best Youth Centres in your neighbourhood: Burak, Alperen and Fatih from Turkey, Esther and Miriam from Spain, Armando from Albania, Charlie from France and Ion from Moldova. You can meet them all on the 16^th of June, in our  Youth Centre in Sagului.   

As we will start the renovation and preparations to open the new youth centres, we will need more help, especially from the people that live in the area of the youth centres and understand the needs of the local youth, their mates and colleagues. If you are interested in being a part of our amazing team and help us organise the best activities for the local youth and spread the word of the new safe spaces, you can always apply on our website and be a local volunteer. 

And if you are not sure whether this is what you want, come to the Youth House (Str. Arieș 19) to find out more about us. 

This month, the ESC volunteers enjoyed spring at its finest. They took advantage of the great weather and had picnics, were on treasure hunts, city tours, organised and attended various online and offline events. In a word, they weren’t bored at all.  

April started with a great learning opportunity for the volunteers. They had the chance to organise a giveaway for the local youth and see how their audience reacts. Shortly after, another two volunteers, Miriam and Esther, joined the Youth Centres UP 2 project. On this occasion, all the volunteers have visited and examined the Youth Centres in the city.  

Spring revied their motivation, and they were excited to jump into work. Even the less creative tasks seemed easy and fun to do. So they finished the Community Engagement guidelines, created a partnership database for short-term volunteers and sent out offers. They regularly post on Facebook and Instagram fun and exciting things about themselves and their activity in the project. Feel free to follow them! 

As mentioned before, they had experienced spring at its finest, which means they had many outdoor activities. They started the month with a nice friendly picnic, then participated in a treasure hunt in the Youth House to find out more about the building. Then, Ion organised a city rally in which the volunteers and employees discovered Timisoara through a treasure hunt. At the end of April, a cycling event (by Centrul de Tineret Martirilor) near the Bega River to promote outdoor sports in the spring took place. Also, the volunteers took part in a significant project: they distributed flyers and posters in the city to inform local people about the Vaccination Marathon at the end of April.  

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Regarding the current pandemic situations, they also had many online trainings, events and workshops too:  

• Videography photoshoot with Katsia; 
• Online travelling – event organised for the local youth together with the youth workers from FITT, where they presented Turkey and the Turkish culture; 
• On Arrival Training – a week-long training for the volunteers, where they learnt, among others, about the roles in their project, cultural differences, cultural iceberg, non-violent communications, etc.; 
• Public Speaking – an online event that introduced the local youth to the world of confident speaking. 

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The month ended with a tremendous non-formal event between the volunteers. They tasted different national foods of their countries at the International Dinner.  

We’re looking forward to taking all the good vibes of this month and turn them into good energy in the following period!  

Although February was a short month, our long-term ESC volunteers were highly productive. They started having Romanian language classes, participated in several trainings and workshops, created databases, and many more. 

Alpie, our newest volunteer in the ‘Youth Centres UP 2’ project, participated in a week-long training called “On arrival” where he met other volunteers that came to Romania at the same time.

Our two volunteers had several marketing and organising-related activities this month:  

• an Excel training where they have mastered the basics of the program 

• a SWOT analysis workshop where they learned how to create a SWOT analysis, and with the help of some ex-volunteers they have even created one for the Youth Centres UP project, based on their experiences and expectations 

• a meeting about marketing practices, and how to use them in social media. They even put into practice their knowledge by posting on the Youth Centres UP social media accounts and writing some blog articles as well 

• the two ESC volunteers created a database of organisations with the possibility of having a partnership and a mail list of high schools from Timisoara for the same purpose 

This year FITT wants to create 10 more youth centres in Timisoara. So, our long-term ESC volunteers shared a form on the Youth Centres UP Facebook page to ask the local youth about their needs. It was necessary for us to have a clearer image of how to arrange these new centres in order to meet the expectations of the youth and be accessible to all youth.