On volunteering

What does it mean to be a volunteer at the DIP?

The basis of activities in the civil society is volunteering. Our volunteers are stakeholders in the implementation of our programs. Volunteering is a contribution to the community and positive changes, and through engaging in it you learn and acquire competencies for personal development, as well as professional competencies.

The relationship towards volunteers and the relationship of volunteers towards the volunteering organizer, in this case, us, the DIP, is regulated by the Act on Volunteering https://www.zakon.hr/z/258/Zakon-o-volonterstvu and the Code of Ethics for Volunteers: https://narodne-novine .nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2008_05_55_1915.html.

“Volunteering, in the sense of this Act, is considered a voluntary investment of personal time, effort, knowledge and skills with which services or activities are performed for the benefit of another person or community, and these are performed by persons in the manner provided for in this Act, without the condition of payment of a monetary reward or claims for other property benefits for volunteering, unless otherwise specified by this Act.” (Art.

3) Volunteers can be:

• DIP members
• citizens, of all age groups
• company employees
• other people who want to contribute to our work.

Our volunteer programs are designed so that they can be adapted to short-term and long-term volunteering:

1. short-term volunteering – occasionally, related to actions or casual interest
2. long-term – according to the Act on volunteering, long-term volunteering is considered to be those activities “that the volunteer performs regularly and continuously, at least twice a month, for a period of at least three months without interruption.” (Article 3)

Considering the fact that our primary program is intended for persons with disabilities and other people who need support and care, we pay special attention to the formal regulation of relations with volunteers, so we have developed a “protocol for receiving and working with volunteers”:

1. Initial interview and/or group meeting where we discuss the volunteers’ motives and interests, present our work.
2. We conclude a volunteering contract with the volunteer.
3. The volunteer signs a statement confirming that there are no obstacles to volunteering from Article 10 of the Act on Volunteering
4. A special certificate about the person is requested from the Ministry of Justice (criminal proceedings)
5. We train each volunteer for work, lasting from 5 to 8 p.m., depending on the volunteer position
6. Each volunteer has a mentor, a person who works or volunteers for a longer time in the DIP, for daily communication and support
7. Group support meetings are held with volunteers at least once a month, in order to exchange experiences and resolve doubts.
8. We issue a certificate of volunteering to each volunteer, at least twice a year and upon request
9. We issue certificates of acquired competencies upon request, although we often discuss learning
10. We issue special thanks to volunteers who have made a special contribution, thanks to the best volunteers, and we usually register them for awarding the best volunteers.
11. Volunteers who express their desire to give more can become members.

Examples of documents:

1. Agreement on volunteering UGOVOR_O_VOLONTIRANJU_11.11.2022.
2. Questions for volunteers for CV – introduction VOLUNTEER FORM – questions for CV
3. Declaration that there are no circumstances from Article 10 of the Act on Volunteering (Official Gazette 58/07, 22/13, 84/21) according to which I would not be allowed to volunteer by providing services to children, persons with disabilities, elderly and infirm people , sick persons or persons deprived of business capacity: DECLARATION_ZAPREKE_ČL.10
4. Special certificate of the Ministry of Justice for natural persons requested by a legal person Form IIIa
5. Certificate of competences acquired: Certificate of competences acquired through volunteering

Volunteer positions

You can volunteer in various programs, from an assistant in a half-day care center to a “comic keeper” or in financial or administrative jobs.

1. In the department for the provision of social services in the “Daycare Center Friends” – social services of half-day stay and psychosocial support – https://dip.hr/programi/sto_su_socijalne_usluge/

At the “Daycare Center Friends”, we provide social services to young people with developmental and psychosocial functioning difficulties and other persons with disabilities, as well as people who need support and care.

Names of programs at Daycare Center Friends:

“DIP youth club”: “Laboratory of life skills – Friends” occupational activities “Ready, steady, work!” – socialize with young people with developmental difficulties and difficulties in psychosocial functioning, and young people with NEET status.

Anyone who knows how important it is to have social support can be a mentor, with the education at the DIP association. Depending on how much free time you have and what interests you have, you can engage in different activities with different intensity:

1. Mentors: long-term volunteering, individual and group work with the user, once a week (from 1 to 3 hours) in pairs and at least once a month in group activities, with the support of a professional team, according to an individual plan for each pair.

The individual plan includes: training the mentor for work and creating a plan and activity goals, getting to know the family, determining the rules,

2. Reserve mentors: volunteers who have been trained as mentors, but currently do not have a mentor pair (volunteer at group activities, join the pair occasionally), volunteer at other jobs and participate in the work of the association on other projects – work at least once a month on group activities, as needed and, if needed, they replace mentors when they give up or cannot fulfill their obligations;
3. Assistants in the “DIP’s youth club”: volunteering at jobs with activities from the half-day stay program, with mandatory training for working with PWDs. They provide support to managers and participants (users) in the performance of tasks, encourage users to actively participate, provide social support to users; See the work plan in the half-day living room.
4. Accompanying volunteer: volunteering at activities that require accompanying the user in order to learn to walk independently, from home to the destination where the activities are carried out;
5. Assistants to leaders for various activities from the program: volunteering at occasional actions or other projects (such as research, activities in nature, education for young people) and other activities (citizen actions) organized or carried out by the SEC in partnership with other associations in the field of social welfare, health etc. Assistants in the implementation of communication campaigns for the realization of the rights of the primary group, etc.
6. Administrative assistants: related to program implementation, website administration, translation, archiving, assistance with documentation, assistants for planning project applications, etc.

Volunteers get involved in creative workshops, art workshops, sewing workshops, culinary workshops, sports workshops, garden workshops, trips to fairs and other activities. Workshops are held 3-5 times a week, in the morning or afternoon, in the premises of the DIP Association (Wenzelova 2) or by agreement at other locations (eco garden, swimming pool).

2. In the Department of Culture and Technical Culture:

The Kvarner colony of author’s comics and illustrations:

1. assistant in the organization of the colony
2. exhibition assistant
3. “comics keeper”
4. administrative jobs.

Digital literacy:

1. assistant or performer of activities such as internet safety, basic digital literacy
2. computer and network system maintenance assistant
3. other

DEEP GREEN vol. 2.

1. management assistant or waste separation contractor
2. assistant or contractor for composting activities
3. assistant or contractor for recycling and reuse activities
4. other

3. In the department for research, strategies and more:

1. data collection assistant
2. interviewer, interviewer, moderator
3. digital content creator
4. research assistant
5. other

4. General department:

1. assistant in administrative affairs
2. assistant in project writing
3. assistant in monitoring the implementation of projects
4. reporting assistant
5. office work
6. other

We nominate our student volunteers who have been volunteering for a long time and show a special interest for volunteer awards given by the Association for the Development of Civil Society SMART, the City of Rijeka and the Primorsko-goranska County, and so far those students who have volunteered in our association have also received awards and praise: https://www.novilist.hr/rijeka-regija/rijeka/ovo-su-volonteri-2021-godine/, https://www.mojarijeka.hr/dodijeljene-nagrade-najboljim-volonterima-u-2019- year/ or https://www.volonterski-centar-ri.org/project/10-godina-nagrade-volonteri-godine/

The difference between volunteering and professional practice or other models of learning or work, such as internships?

Volunteering is voluntary and unpaid work, and professional practice and other learning models, such as “service learning” or learning by engaging in the community, are learning models, methods that achieve the expected educational outcomes.

Although one learns through volunteering, that is not the primary goal of this work, the primary goal of volunteering is to contribute to the implementation of the activities of a non-profit organization. The primary goal of internships or courses that focus on gaining work experience in civil society organizations or other organizations, is to fulfill the expected outcomes of the course – acquired competence in organizations, which means that the course holders estimate that this experience contributes to the learning and/or course outcomes. More about professional practice and other learning models: https://dip.hr/strucna-baza-strucna-praksa-za-studente/

Link to the application form: https://dip.hr/volontiraj/