Down District Volunteer Centre

What happened last summer

Summer Activities;
Summer Volunteering action day programme for Young Volunteers - aged 14 to 24 years.
Youth Volunteering Summer Scheme '09
Over 14 volunteers from DDVC Millennium Volunteers and Breakaway schemes participated in a series of "action day" challenges across the summer.  The challenges varied from track maintenance with the Down Railway conservation project through to environmental work with the national Trust and the Mourne Heritage Trust.

The summer 2009 This year a group of 12 to 14 young volunteers with and without learning disabilities have been taking on the challenges and tasks set by organisations.  This year alot of the activities have been based with the National Trust in Murlough, but we're trying a range of activities from beach clean ups to painting.  We've also helped to clean toys and weed the garden at the Stranford Parent and Toddler Group and help oil the points at Downpatrick and County Down Railway.

Summer Challenges completed in 2008.
Over the summer a group of young volunteers, with and without learning disabilites take on different challenges set by local voluntary or community groups.  These could be gardening or painting or just tidying up, whatever a group can do in a day.
Summer of 2008 is half way through, but so far the group have cleared a jungle to find a fairy walk for a children's group, they've cleaned up toys and put down bark on play areas and weeded and weeded and weeded! 

Action Days like this carry on throughout the year, if you are interested in volunteering but don't feel ready to go out on your own, why not come along to an action day and join the group for a bit of fun. Also if you have an idea for a group activity and would like to help organise it, perhaps we can get more volunteers to help with that. 

 Millennium Volunteers on Film!

March 2008 members of the Downpatrick and Newcastle Youth Forums (all Millennium Volunteers, past and present) took the opportunity to take part in a video being organised by the Volunteer Development Agency to promote the Millennium Volunteer Project and youth volunteering.  This was an opportunity to be brave and do something different and to talk about all the volunteering and community involvement the group has taken part in - as you can see from above, that is quite alot!

Take part in training - this summer saw basic first aid training, presentation skills and Jump on Board being offered.
Over the summer a number of Millennium Volunteers were able to access free training organised by the Down District Volunteer Centre, we are hoping that more will be on offer over the next term both for small groups and in schools.

One group of volunteers took part in presentation skills training, looking at the techniques and skills needed to organise, prepare and give a presentation to other people.  All those who took part had a go at giving a presentation which, with only half an hour to prepare was very good.
Another group of volunteers took part in Jump on Board training, this offers the chance to look at what a committee is, developing the skills needed to be part of a committee including team building, communication skills, planning, goal setting and mapping the community.  All participants of this two day course received a certificate of attendance.

 

 

 

 

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