BOOSTING BROADMINDEDNESS EVS in Finland, HRAKS 1.2.-30.11.2016 Hyvinkään-Riihimäen Seudun Ammattikoulutussäätiö (HRAKS) provides all-around promotion of employability services and regional youth outreach work. The purpose of the foundation is to take care of regionally needed prevention of social exclusion for people of all ages (both youth and adults). HRAKS has a long history in labor market development activities in the region. The main goals of all activities are versatile, high quality services for development and personal support in maintaining the ability to work . HRAKS has units in Hyvinkää, Riihimäki, Hausjärvi and Loppi. HRAKS employs about 70 people in throughout the region with different roles and tasks. The hometown of HRAKS is the city of Hyvinkää (population ~46 000) in northern Uusimaa (a 45-minute train ride from Helsinki). HRAKS, lines of action: • Työmylly Youth, promotion of employment for young people (17 - 25 y.) • Työmylly Adults, promotion of employment for adults (26 - 60 y.) • Youth outreach work, social empowerment for young people (16 - 29 y.) • Business Cooperation, business and labor confrontation • Workplace Services, development of workplaces and supervision services Youth in Action processes will be implemented in youth workshops, alias Työmylly Youth, which offers a variety of training and job opportunities for young people of the region between ages 17 - 25. The aim of the youth workshops is to help young people develop their individual plans, promote youth employment and make it easier to apply for studies. The workshops are intended for unemployed youth with no vocational training or for those with vocational training but no work experience. Many have different problems in their daily lives such as economic, learning or social issues in schools, workplaces and homes. Some may also have mental health problems. The average duration of a workshop period is approximately six months, based on a personal plan and individual needs, and includes work at the workshop, work orientation and training. During the period, youths are given individual counselling e.g. on career choice matters. HRAKS has ten youth workshops with different themes. Our workshops are in different locations around the region. There are five youth workshops in the city of Hyvinkää and three in the city of Riihimäki and one in Hausjärvi and one in Loppi. Project description: The "Boosting Broadmindedness" project will be handling the themes of inclusion, youth (participation, youth work, youth policy) and social dialogue. Project will start 1.1.2016 and it will be located in the cities of Hyvinkää and Riihimäki and municipality of Loppi, Finland. We will select three volunteers for our project. They all will work in our youth workshops as a helping workshop trainers/ instructors and role models for our trainees (ages 17-25). Volunteer 1 will work in Startti workshop, volunteer 2 will work in Café Harju workshop and volunteer 3 will work at Työmylly Loppi workshop. We are looking for volunteers for a 10 month period. We are offering a pleasant and enthusiastic atmosphere in our work community. They will take part in planning activities and work tasks for trainees and step-by-step begin to lead them by themselves. The EVS volunteer will be an extra resource and work side-by-side with the employees on a daily basis. Main tasks of EVS volunteers at HRAKS workshops: The main task for the EVS volunteers is to bring a piece of internationality and culture to our daily work and assist the youth of HRAKS in developing their international skills and knowledge. Through their daily with young trainees and non-formal learning during their project, volunteers can strengthen various skills and abilities such as: public speaking, pedagogical abilities, organizational skills and event organization. The volunteers will learn various concrete working methods and become aware of non-formal learning as an important way of learning. They will also learn the forms of Finnish youth work and what prevention of exclusion means in Finland. There will also be a possibility to learn the Finnish language. Our organization is very flexible and open about the volunteers own interests and knowledge. The weekly schedule will be discussed in the beginning of each week, since the activities in the workshop are changing and flexible depending on the people taking part in the activities, season etc. olunteersV will work 35 hours per week (5 days/week, 7h/day) and will have the same national holidays free as our employees. They will also have two vacation days per month and can use them as agreed. Volunteers’ profiles: We are looking for volunteers who are motivated and like to communicate and work with young people of different backgrounds and limited possibilities. We are hoping that volunteers have good social skills, want to participate actively in all activities and are interested in learning new things. Tasks are versatile and volunteers have the possibility to develop their own interests and share them with other people. We also want that the volunteers are reliable, responsible, have a positive working attitude, are willing to learn more about foreign cultures and can communicate in English. We don’t choose anyone on the basis of sex. Because volunteers are going to work with a group of youth ages 17-25 years old with fewer opportunities, we wish the applicants have some experience in working with a group. Practical arrangements: EVS volunteers will live in Hyvinkää and Riihimäki, near the city center in an apartment or in a student room. In both cases, they will be sharing kitchen and bathroom with other students and volun- teers. All workshops have kitchens that volunteers can use. We will give them monthly food money 250,00 euros. Food and pocket money are paid at the beginning of every month into volunteers’ bank account or in cash. For transportation they will have bicycles. Volunteer whose workshop is located in Loppi will use the local bus for travelling. Monthly bus ticket between Riihimäki-Loppi is going to be paid for them. Every volunteer will receive AXA insurance and European health insur- ance card before arrival in Finland with the help of the sending organization. HRAKS’ international coordinator and mentors are always available through telephone. All volunteers will be given a phone and for the first time it will be loaded by HRAKS with talking time. olunteersV will have internet in their apartments. Important local information and phone numbers will be given in a folder on the first day. Mentors and coordinator are going to pick up the volunteers from the airport when they arrive. Main activities: EVS volunteers working in workshops will offer our trainees and volunteers great opportunity to practice English and learn about different cultures. It is possible for the volunteers to use their background with culture, sports, photography, design etc. as part of their EVS project. Tasks for all three volunteers are to inform young trainees about EVS by organizing promotion meetings in every workshop. They will communicate with trainees, answering questions about how to apply for an EVS project and they’ll be giving advice on how to find an EVS project. HRAKS employees will train and teach the volunteer all of the necessary skills. During the volunteering period, they will learn many useful skills that ease trainees working in the workshop environment and everyday life in general as well. Café Harju (Riihimäki) workshop: At our café, volunteers can gain real work experience in a genuine café environment. All of the tasks related to keeping a cafe up and running are mostly performed by the youth trainees in these workshops. All of the personnel have plenty of experience working in the catering and cafeteria industry so they are able to teach a variety of skills. Student apprentices enrolled in catering industry studies may also be working alongside youth in our cafés. Our aim is to inspire youth to notice how interesting and wide-ranged the catering industry is so that someday they may apply for studies and find a career in the field. Main skills that trainees learn are: 1. Customer service and data based cash system management. 2. Cooking and baking. 3. Cleaning and laundry skills. Everyone in the café works in varying morning, evening and weekend shifts, 7 hours per day and 5 days per week between Monday and Sunday. We hope that an EVS volunteer will be interested in working in a café environment and is excited to develop our business together with our personnel, students and young trainees. Loppi Workshop and Kirppis Loppis: The volunteer can gain real work experience in a flea market environment, different kinds of work there and other activities in the Loppi workshop. In the flea market, tasks will be customer’s service, separation, pricing, product layout and dressing. Other tasks in Loppi will be shopping service for elderly, different kinds of handcrafts, outdoor work and woodwork. All the tasks related to keep the flea market and other functions running are mostly performed by the youth and adult trainees in the workshop Personnel in the Loppi workshop have experience working with different functions of workshop so they are able to teach a variety of skills. Our aim is to inspire youth to learn working life skills and also maintain control of their personal life challenges. Main skills that trainees learn are: 1. Customer service and cash system 2. Environmentally skills, sustainable development 3. Flea market donations treatment, like separation, pricing, layout and shop dressing 4. Variety handicraft techniques 5. Cleaning and laundry skills 6. Job searching skills. Trainees in Loppi workshop will work from Monday to Friday 6 hours per day from 9am to 3pm. We hope that an EVS volunteer will be interested in working in a versatile workshop environment and is excited to develop our business together with our personnel, students and trainees.