Austria: ESC: Volunteering in the Youth centre YUNIT, Youth Work & Leisure

About the local hosting organization

Komm!unity is a non-profit NGO based in Wörgl, that is specialized on youth, integration and community work. The association was established in 2012 and has been growing since. komm!unity networks with committed people and organisations, takes up exciting and meaningful initiatives, implements projects and events for a vivid and inclusive society. We run seven youth centers (open youth work), a street work department (mobile youth work), a youth information center, an integration and diversity department and a leisure time work project for youngsters. Additionally, we manage a small culture facility in Wörgl. Our target groups are young people and migrants in our region. Furthermore, we also work with multipliers (all people in our region working or living with young people and migrants) and the local community in general. We organize events for our target groups in and around Wörgl and run different social projects in our working area. Our youth centres work according to the principles of professional open youth work and are places for young people between 10 and 18 years to spend their leisure time. The youth centres provide space for various needs of young people and are open to all, regardless of social, religious or ethnic background. The volunteers we host, are mainly supporting the teams of our youth centers, but can also be involved in other departments and projects, according to their interest.

Presentation of the programme

The target group of “YUNIT” are youngsters between 9 and 18 years, coming from different social, economic or cultural backgrounds. The young visitors come from the town of Schwaz and from surrounding villages and spend their leisure time in and around the youth center. They are supported by youth workers and can talk to them about their interests or problems. The youth center “YUNIT” offers a variety of indoor and outdoor activities and games - for example the Youth Café, a party room, a small garden, girls’ room, lunch opening, pool billiard, table tennis, PS5, Xbox, TV, Airhockey, DJ workstation, internet access, cooking possibility, concert and music facilities, workshops and different punctual activities etc. Also, young people who have problems or difficulties can seek support or advice from the youth workers or can just spend their time at the youth center.

About the accomodation

The volunteer will live and volunteer in Schwaz in the Austrian region Tyrol. The volunteer is provided with an equipped flat close to our organisation. She or he will have a two room apartment. The volunteer has to accept the house rules of the hosting organisation. In addition, the volunteer will receive a daily allowance of 7 EUR pocket money and 12 EUR food allowance. To support mobility throughout the project, a Tyrol public transport ticket (Tirolticket) for trains and buses will be provided for the entire duration of the volunteering period.

About the leisure activities

The volunteer will have access to a German language course to support language learning and integration into daily life in Austria. In addition, the volunteer will participate in an On-Arrival Training and a Mid-Term Training, organised within the framework of the European Solidarity Corps. These trainings provide opportunities for networking, reflection, and exchange with other volunteers. The volunteer will travel independently to these training activities.

Requirements

The Participant profile: Tasks & Activities of the volunteer:  Being part of the “YUNIT” team in the daily work  planning and organising youth leisure activities and events together with youngsters and staff members  doing simple bar work  being creative and bringing in own ideas into the project via workshops and so on  taking part in regular team meetings  preparations and bar work at our live concerts (every second month, mostly Rock Music)  The service is around 30 hours per week  Taking part in activities/workshops The volunteer will work five days a week, around 30 hours a week including the German course. The free “weekend” will be on Saturday and Sunday. The volunteer will have two weeks Christmas holidays and 5 weeks summer holidays. The volunteer will be able to learn a lot during this service, he or she will have an interesting role and gain valuable experience and skills in working with youngsters. The volunteer will learn a lot about the youngsters’ situation, their topics, language, personal situations and problems. Furthermore, the volunteer will get to know the work of youth workers and the challenges. The volunteer's work will be guided by our professional employees. We welcome new and creative ideas, which we believe add new perspectives to our organisation. Examples for such creative ideas are: creating a country-specific week with special meals or events, baking Christmas cookies, doing an artistic project with the youngsters, healthy cooking day, playing a big game in nature to make the youngsters spend more time outside We expect that the volunteer brings in motivation for the project and is interested in the target group. Moreover, the volunteer should have a stable personality, in order to be able to work with youngsters. We would be happy to host a volunteer who ✔ Is older than 23, to have an age distance to the youths we work with ✔ wants to get to know youth centre work and participate actively ✔ wants to be part of a motivated and creative team ✔ wants to meet other volunteers here in Tyrol ✔ is interested in youth leisure activities, youth culture and youth-related issues ✔ is open-minded, friendly, enthusiastic, creative and communicative ✔ shows active interests in sports (climbing, swimming, football, etc.) or creative activities (dancing, gardening, painting, music, photographing, handcrafts) and/or indoor games (billiard, table tennis, card games…) ✔ is motivated to learn German (and some Tyrolean German dialect) ✔ brings her or his own culture and interests into the project ✔ wants to be independent and can live on his/her own ✔ is ready to volunteer for 12 months starting in OctoberDeadline: 31/07/2026 23:59