Supporting social projects

Project: The workcamp takes place in the village of Ceske Kopisty where the local NGO Camphill Ceske Kopisty runs a family-like community centre both for people with (mental) disabilities and for those without any kind of disability who work and live together. The Camphill community in Ceske Kopisty is inspired by the Camphill movement and the ideas of anthroposophy. Besides therapeutic activities for the clients (including pottery and textile workshops), the community runs an organic farm focused on vegetable production and based on the rules of bio-dynamic farming. Camphill has recently set up a social entreprise which helps to sustain the community centre by selling agricultural products.

Work: The organic farm of Camphill is very dependent on manual work and it would be impossible to maintain the agricultural project without the voluntary work. The volunteers will perform two different kinds of manual work. Firstly, they will be helping on the organic farm - planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, cleaning, storing. Secondly, some minor construction and renovation works will be done (e.g. building and demolishing of walls, cleaning bricks, reparations). Bring good working clothes and shoes.

Study part: Lectures and discussions about the Camphill movement, anthroposophy and organic farming. It is possible to visit the nearby Terezin Memorial at the location of the former concentration camp for Jews – the Terezin Ghetto. Workshops on different handicraft techniques (making carpets, wooden jewellery or special natural soaps) can be organized for you.

Leisure time: You can make trips to the surrounding towns (a historical town of Litomerice, Usti nad Labem with a brewery and a zoological garden and Zernoseky with a wine cellar) and visit some summer cultural events. Then you can go hiking in the nearby beautiful hills, swimming in the river just behind the centre, have boat trips, do some sports (football, volleyball, table tennis) and go on a cycling tour along the river...

Accommodation/Food: In a big hall on mattresses. Bring a sleeping bag! One shower with hot water and a toilet will be available. There is also a kitchen – products for cooking will be provided by the local partner. Volunteers will prepare their breakfasts and dinners on their own, for the lunches they will assist the community cook with the preparation of the meal.

Location: Ceske Kopisty – a small village near the historical town of Litomerice.

Note: As you will stay in a community for people with mental health issues, smoking and the consumption of alcohol and drugs are forbidden within the community area. Please respect night-time peace and the privacy of the clients’ accommodation.

Project: The voluntary project is organized by the non-governmental organization “Centre for all” which organizes free time activities and summer camps for children and youth with and without handicaps. The activities take place in a reconstructed barn with a pretty garden in a small village of Jizbice and in the centre of the organization in the town of Nymburk.

For more information visit the organization’s website: www.centrumprovsechny.cz

Work: The volunteers will perform two different kinds of work: Firstly you will help with practical manual tasks indoors and outdoors: gardening, putting up tents and teepees, preparing the barn for the arrival of the clients (moving furniture, cleaning, decorating and preparing games and activities for the children and youth), who will arrive at the second week of the project. Secondly the group will work with children and youth with autism and other disabilities who spend their vacation at the village (general assistance, organization of activities for the clients, going with them on walks outside the centre, help in the kitchen, etc.). During the children’s camp, volunteers will work longer hours but it will be compensated for during the first part of the workcamp when you will have more free-time. All the time, volunteers will cooperate with Czech assistants.

Study part: In the first week you will get a lecture on autism and a workshop on methods how to work with children and youth affected by autism. You will have the chance to learn some basic Czech phrases – it will be helpful during the children’s camp. You will also learn about the famous Czech author Bohumil Hrabal who was born in Nymburk – you can visit his birth house or see a film based on his novels.

Leisure time: Tour around the spa town Poděbrady, excursions to the complex of labyrinths and the castle of Loucen, to a local brewery and to the surrounding countryside are planned. We will also organize an intercultural day/evening in Nymburk and play bowling.

Accommodation/Food: Part of the time you will be accommodated in modern tents or in a barn in Jizbice (the village where the children and youth camp takes place). The rest of the time you will sleep in a house in Nymburk that serves as a centre for the organization. Please bring a sleeping bag and a headlamp. Lunches during the children’s camp will be provided externally, the rest will be prepared by the volunteers. For the period of your stay in Nymburk, you will be preparing your own meals so bring some interesting recipes.

Location: Nymburk and the village of Jizbice (8 kilometres from the town Nymburk).

Notes: Smoking is forbidden while working with the children. Bring working clothes with you that can get dirty! You will need clothes for all kind of weather (swimsuit, warm clothes, raingear and waterproof working boots). We are especially looking for outgoing and creative volunteers with good communication skills. A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required. Also we will ask you to cooperate before the workcamp and read the materials that will be sent to you.

Project: The workcamp takes place in the village of Ceske Kopisty where the local NGO Camphill Ceske Kopisty runs a family-like community centre both for people with (mental) disabilities and for those without any kind of disability who work and live together. The Camphill community in Ceske Kopisty is inspired by the Camphill movement and the ideas of anthroposophy. Besides therapeutic activities for the clients (including pottery and textile workshops), the community runs an organic farm focused on vegetable production and based on the rules of bio-dynamic farming. Camphill has recently set up a social entreprise which helps to sustain the community centre by selling agricultural products.

Work: The organic farm of Camphill is very dependent on manual work and it would be impossible to maintain the agricultural project without the voluntary work. The volunteers will perform two different kinds of manual work. Firstly, they will be helping on the organic farm - planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, cleaning, storing. Secondly, some minor construction and renovation works will be done (e.g. building and demolishing of walls, cleaning bricks, reparations). Bring good working clothes and shoes.

Study part: Lectures and discussions about the Camphill movement, anthroposophy and organic farming. It is possible to visit the nearby Terezin Memorial at the location of the former concentration camp for Jews – the Terezin Ghetto. Workshops on different handicraft techniques (making carpets, wooden jewellery or special natural soaps) can be organized for you.

Leisure time: You can make trips to the surrounding towns (a historical town of Litomerice, Usti nad Labem with a brewery and a zoological garden and Zernoseky with a wine cellar) and visit some summer cultural events. Then you can go hiking in the nearby beautiful hills, swimming in the river just behind the centre, have boat trips, do some sports (football, volleyball, table tennis) and go on a cycling tour along the river...

Accommodation/Food: In a big hall on mattresses. Bring a sleeping bag! One shower with hot water and a toilet will be available. There is also a kitchen – products for cooking will be provided by the local partner. Volunteers will prepare their breakfasts and dinners on their own, for the lunches they will assist the community cook with the preparation of the meal.

Location: Ceske Kopisty – a small village near the historical town of Litomerice.

Note: As you will stay in a community for people with mental health issues, smoking and the consumption of alcohol and drugs are forbidden within the community area. Please respect night-time peace and the privacy of the clients’ accommodation.

Project: Ledovec is a non-governmental organization offering support to people with psychiatric diseases or mental health handicaps. For their clients it works as a “rural training home” and assists them to keep or improve the quality of their everyday lives. As a part of the centre there is a big garden and a farm with goats, sheep and chicken. The centre organizes a number of interesting activities for the public as well. Since 2002 the centre has organized a voluntary project where volunteers from the Czech Republic and from abroad work together with the centre’s therapists to improve the area of an old parish house in the village Ledce where the centre is situated.

Work: The workcamp takes place in the Therapeutic centre when it is closed for the majority of the clients. Volunteers help with the running of the centre at that time (taking care of the animals, the garden and the house). They perform general cleaning of the house and assist at current reconstruction work (reconstruction of the barn, walls, an outside area of the centre, painting). Take working clothes and working boots. Part of the work is to help with the preparation and organisation of the “Traditional Fair Celebration” – a cultural one-day event for the public (Sunday 27th July), where different handicrafts are presented and various kinds of traditional fair entertainment will be seen. Volunteers will have a chance to actively participate in the program of the celebration by preparing a small circus performance.

Study part: Volunteers will receive an introductory lecture on the centre’s activities and principles of the psychosocial support offered to the clients. During the project, the centre’s therapeutic workshops will be open for you (weaving, bread making, candle workshop).

Leisure time: The centre will organize trips with their own minibus, often to cultural events in Pilsen – Cultural Capital 2015 or other places of interest. For everyday time off after work the centre provides joggling equipment, 5 bikes, 4 canoes and maps for trips to the surrounding countryside.

Accommodation/Food: In the main building in beds or on mattresses; bring a sleeping bag. Hot water, one shower and three toilets are available. You will receive homemade food three times a day in the centre (vegetarian dishes available). The volunteers will be involved in preparing the meals.

Location: The village Ledce, about 8 kilometres to the north-west from Pilsen (Plzen). In the village you find Ledovec in the old parish house in the very centre of the village close to the church.

Note: The group will consist of 10 international volunteers – 5 from a partner organization of the centre and 5 international volunteers that will be placed by INEX-SDA. There will be only one shower for the group. The group will be responsible for itself and organize itself under the “supervision” of the centre’s manager.

Project: The project takes place in the little village of Vlastovicky (part of Opava) where the local NGO HOLOS runs a therapeutic and educational centre. The aim and activities of HOLOS are oriented towards the holistic approach to the human health. Its clients are mostly the inhabitants of Opava and the surroundings – children, the youth and even the adults in hard life situations. The association offers a wide range of activities: therapeutic, educational, self-cognitive and self-experiential. Besides, HOLOS runs a school of dance (Latin-American, standard, sport and jazz dances), organizes art workshops (art therapy) and a club of martial arts (traditional Japanese martial arts of Iaidó and Jódó using arms).

Work: Volunteers will work in the centre HOLOS which is under reconstruction. It will be mainly manual – they will perform minor construction and renovation works in the former barn (in the future, there will be rooms for therapy, accommodation and a kitchen). Secondly, they will work in the garden (digging, preparation of flower beds, planting of flowers, maintenance) and in the yard (renovation of the pavement). It will be also possible to try and restore some historic furniture. Besides the work in the centre HOLOS, part of the group will help with some works in the village of Vlastovicky. This can include maintenance of the public green areas, planting of flowers, painting of children’s playground, agriculture works on a farm or other tasks needed by the municipality at the time.

Study part: Volunteers can learn about the holistic approach to human health and try different meditation and relaxation techniques. There will be creative workshops prepared for volunteers – dancing, arts and martial art. During the workcamp some international evenings are planned for the local community – bring some interesting pictures, music or musical instruments and also traditional recipes from your home to be able to introduce your culture to the other volunteers and local people.

Leisure time: You can spend free time by playing games, singing at the camp fire (musical instruments are welcome), swimming, relaxation in the Indian sauna (sweatlodge) in the garden of the HOLOS centre and making some trips in the surroundings. The nearby city of Opava offers a wide range of activities (sights, museums, galleries, cinema, etc.). You can also visit some other regional sights (Museum of Silesia – Holasovice, castles, the Slezska Harta Dam, Jeseniky Mountains, etc.). You can also try horse riding on a nearby farm.

Accommodation/Food: In the centre HOLOS in several rooms on mattresses or in the garden in your own tent (if you wish). There are two bathrooms with the shower and hot water. Bring your own sleeping bag and a mattress (or your own tent if you want to sleep outside). You will eat home-made food in the centre HOLOS (suitable also for vegetarians). The food will be prepared by the local partner and you will assist. It will be possible to cook national specialities, bring some traditional recipes from your country.

Location: The village of Vlastovicky is located about 4 km to the nort-west of Opava, near the border on Poland. The seat of HOLOS is situated in a farmhouse which formerly served as a school. It is a very little village but the centre of Opava is accessible within 20 minutes by bus.

Note: The group will be composed of 10 volunteers – 7 foreign and 3 local. In the HOLOS centre, it is forbidden to smoke and drink alcohol. The workcamp is suitable for volunteers who are hard-working, like arts and dogs (there are English cocker spaniels living in the centre in the close contact with the residents). We require a short motivation letter!

Project: The project is organized in co-operation with the Czech humanitarian organization “People in Need” (Clovek v tisni). Besides development work and other activities, the organization is trying to fight social exclusion in the growing “social ghettos” in the Czech Republic. The site of the workcamp is Usti nad Labem, a North-Bohemian city with severe social problems. There, People in Need offers meaningful leisure-time activities for children and youth from underprivileged families and a centre for mothers with children.

Work: Volunteers will work in a socially excluded neighbourhood of Usti nad Labem. The main work will be the preparation, implementation and coordination of creative leisure activities (especially cultural and sports activities) for children and youth from the area. The program for children will take place in the local drop-in club “New World”. Volunteers will be in a regular contact with the local people from the excluded part of the town. Apart from the activities with children, volunteers will do some maintenance work in the premises of the club.

Study part: Lecture and seminar about social exclusion in the Czech Republic and about specific problems concerning work with youth from socially excluded areas. At the beginning of the workcamp, volunteers will be in intensive contact with young people from the locality. During these meetings, with the help of translators, they will exchange their life stories among themselves in order to reach better mutual understanding.

Leisure time: Trips to the surrounding countryside (nature-parks, castles, close-by mountains and historical cities in the whole region). Visit concerts at local clubs. A two-day trip will be prepared.

Accommodation/Food: At the Drop-In Club “New World” in one socially excluded neighbourhood. Volunteers will prepare their own meals. Please bring a sleeping bag, good boots for hiking, working clothing and raingear.

Location: Usti nad Labem

Note: A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required! Volunteers should be in good physical conditions as the workcamp program is quite demanding.

Project: The workcamp takes place in the village of Ceske Kopisty where the local NGO Camphill Ceske Kopisty runs a family-like community centre both for people with (mental) disabilities and for those without any kind of disability who work and live together. The Camphill community in Ceske Kopisty is inspired by the Camphill movement and the ideas of anthroposophy. Besides therapeutic activities for the clients (including pottery and textile workshops), the community runs an organic farm focused on vegetable production and based on the rules of bio-dynamic farming. Camphill has recently set up a social entreprise which helps to sustain the community centre by selling agricultural products.

Work: The organic farm of Camphill is very dependent on manual work and it would be impossible to maintain the agricultural project without the voluntary work. The volunteers will perform two different kinds of manual work. Firstly, they will be helping on the organic farm - planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, cleaning, storing. Secondly, some minor construction and renovation works will be done (e.g. building and demolishing of walls, cleaning bricks, reparations). Bring good working clothes and shoes.

Study part: Lectures and discussions about the Camphill movement, anthroposophy and organic farming. It is possible to visit the nearby Terezin Memorial at the location of the former concentration camp for Jews – the Terezin Ghetto. Workshops on different handicraft techniques (making carpets, wooden jewellery or special natural soaps) can be organized for you.

Leisure time: You can make trips to the surrounding towns (a historical town of Litomerice, Usti nad Labem with a brewery and a zoological garden and Zernoseky with a wine cellar) and visit some summer cultural events. Then you can go hiking in the nearby beautiful hills, swimming in the river just behind the centre, have boat trips, do some sports (football, volleyball, table tennis) and go on a cycling tour along the river...

Accommodation/Food: In a big hall on mattresses. Bring a sleeping bag! One shower with hot water and a toilet will be available. There is also a kitchen – products for cooking will be provided by the local partner. Volunteers will prepare their breakfasts and dinners on their own, for the lunches they will assist the community cook with the preparation of the meal.

Location: Ceske Kopisty – a small village near the historical town of Litomerice.

Note: As you will stay in a community for people with mental health issues, smoking and the consumption of alcohol and drugs are forbidden within the community area. Please respect night-time peace and the privacy of the clients’ accommodation.

Project: Prague 15 is a quarter of Prague, situated at the outskirts of the city. Here the “Centre for social care and nursing” offers social services to the elderly. It provides mobile care and stationary nursing services, where bed-ridden elderly or seniors with limited mobility can convalesce.

Work: The volunteers will work with the elderly and get a fixed part in their daily program. You will organize art workshops, leisure time activities and a garden party for them and assist with occupational therapy and outdoor-activities. You will also assist the nurses in taking care for the clients.

Study part: Learn more about social care in the Czech Republic.

Leisure time: The quarter has a lot of green areas and good facilities for sport. You can swim in the direct neighbourhood. Besides you can visit Prague and see some of the great surroundings.

Accommodation/Food: Accommodation will be confirmed (in previous workcamps, volunteers stayed in a nearby hostel or in small cabins in a sports facility). Lunches will be provided at the canteen of the social centre and will not be always suitable for vegetarians. The supply or preparation of breakfasts and dinners will depend on the accommodation.

Location: Prague 15, a quarter of Prague.

Note: We prefer highly motivated volunteers. A relevant motivation letter needs to be handed in with the application form. Before arriving at the project, the volunteers will be required to submit a certificate of good conduct and a medical note stating they have no infectious diseases.

Project: The voluntary project is organized by the non-governmental organization “Centre for All”, which organizes free time activities and summer camps for children and youth with and without handicaps. The activities take place in a reconstructed barn with a pretty garden in a small village and in the centre of the organization in the town Nymburk.

For more information visit the organization’s website: www.centrumprovsechny.cz

Work: You will perform two different kinds of work. Firstly, you will assist during a summer camp for teenagers with physical and/or mental disabilities which takes place in the village of Jizbice (even though the clients are handicapped they are able to play and enjoy their stay). You will provide general assistance, organize activities for the teens and help in the kitchen. The assistance will be done in cooperation with Czech volunteers. The camp for teens will have a theme – Wild West. Creativity and artistic skills will be very welcome as you will be asked to contribute with your own activity. Secondly, you will help to prepare the area of the camps for the winter (gardening, cleaning after the summer season). During the teens camp, you will work longer hours but it will be compensated for at the end of the workcamp when you will have more free-time.

Study part: In the first week you will get a lecture on special education and a workshop on methods how to work with children and youth with special needs. You will have the chance to learn some basic Czech phrases – it will be helpful during the teens camp. You will also learn about the famous Czech author Bohumil Hrabal, who was born in Nymburk.

Leisure time: Tour around the spa town Poděbrady, excursions to the complex of labyrinths and the castle of Loucen, to a local brewery and to the surrounding countryside are planned. We will also organize an intercultural day/evening in Nymburk and play bowling.

Accommodation/Food: Part of the time you will be accommodated in modern tents or in a barn in Jizbice (the village where the children and youth camp takes place). The rest of the time you will sleep in a house in Nymburk that serves as a centre for the organization. Please bring a sleeping bag and a headlamp. Lunches during the children’s camp will be provided externally, the rest will be prepared by the volunteers. For the period of your stay in Nymburk, you will be preparing your own meals so bring some interesting recipes.

Location: Nymburk and the village of Jizbice (8 kilometres from the town Nymburk).

Note: Smoking is forbidden while working with the youth. Bring working clothes with you that can get dirty! You will need clothes for all kind of weather (swimsuit, warm clothes, raingear and waterproof working boots). We are especially looking for outgoing and creative volunteers with good communication skills. A motivation letter sent with the application form is strictly required. Also we will ask you to cooperate before the workcamp and read the materials that will be sent to you.

Project: The workcamp takes place in the village of Ceske Kopisty where the local NGO Camphill Ceske Kopisty runs a family-like community centre both for people with (mental) disabilities and for those without any kind of disability who work and live together. The Camphill community in Ceske Kopisty is inspired by the Camphill movement and the ideas of anthroposophy. Besides therapeutic activities for the clients (including pottery and textile workshops), the community runs an organic farm focused on vegetable production and based on the rules of bio-dynamic farming. Camphill has recently set up a social entreprise which helps to sustain the community centre by selling agricultural products.

Work: The organic farm of Camphill is very dependent on manual work and it would be impossible to maintain the agricultural project without the voluntary work. The volunteers will perform two different kinds of manual work. Firstly, they will be helping on the organic farm - planting, watering, weeding, harvesting, cleaning, storing. Secondly, some minor construction and renovation works will be done (e.g. building and demolishing of walls, cleaning bricks, reparations). Bring good working clothes and shoes.

Study part: Lectures and discussions about the Camphill movement, anthroposophy and organic farming. It is possible to visit the nearby Terezin Memorial at the location of the former concentration camp for Jews – the Terezin Ghetto. Workshops on different handicraft techniques (making carpets, wooden jewellery or special natural soaps) can be organized for you.

Leisure time: You can make trips to the surrounding towns (a historical town of Litomerice, Usti nad Labem with a brewery and a zoological garden and Zernoseky with a wine cellar) and visit some summer cultural events. Then you can go hiking in the nearby beautiful hills, swimming in the river just behind the centre, have boat trips, do some sports (football, volleyball, table tennis) and go on a cycling tour along the river...

Accommodation/Food: In a big hall on mattresses. Bring a sleeping bag! One shower with hot water and a toilet will be available. There is also a kitchen – products for cooking will be provided by the local partner. Volunteers will prepare their breakfasts and dinners on their own, for the lunches they will assist the community cook with the preparation of the meal.

Location: Ceske Kopisty – a small village near the historical town of Litomerice.

Note: As you will stay in a community for people with mental health issues, smoking and the consumption of alcohol and drugs are forbidden within the community area. Please respect night-time peace and the privacy of the clients’ accommodation.

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