Project environment

The Foundation San Cebrián attends people with mental disabilities. It belongs to the network FEAPS (Spanish Confederation in support of the people with intellectual disabilities). Its mission is to improve the quality of life of the people with learning disabilities and their families.
The foundation has services to cover housing, formation, day centre, special employment centre, family service, legal counselling service, etc.
The Foundation has its headquarters in Palencia and has different centres in the province, as stated above.
The volunteers would participate in the centres in San Cebrian de Campos and Fromista, very near Palencia, where they will live.

Local Community:

The province of Palencia belongs to the Autonomous Community of Castille and Leon, the biggest EU region. Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Agriculture is the main economical sector. The population is old due to rural migration to industrial areas inSpain and the low birth rate of Spain.
The capital is at the South of the province.

The project will mainly take place in San Cebrian de Campos, where there are several assistance services:

SAN CEBRIÁN DE CAMPOS: place of reference and where most of the services of the organisation take place. It has about 500 inhabitants. The economy is based on agriculture; it has basic commercial services: supermarket, drug store, banks,...). It is located 22 kms. away from the capital, Palencia, where volunteers will live.

Punctually, and after some time and the foreseen module is running, they can also participate in Fromista.

Volunteers will be hosted in a rented flat in Palencia, with the needed equipment and appropriate for the stay of volunteers.
The flat has 4 bedrooms, WC, toilet, kitchen and living-room.
Lunch will be offered in our dining-rooms, with the staff members, and we will establish an allowance to cover costs of dinner and lunch on weekends and holidays.

Proposed activities for EVS volunteers

What we can offer to volunteers in terms of service and learning opportunities.

Our main aim is still the improvement of the quality of life of our residents and their families.

As an added value, this project will favour an enrichment of the professionals, users and local and European volunteers. This means intercultural learning for the volunteer and our entity.

The European volunteers will enable cultural exchange and a positive encouragement through their new ideas, complementary or alternative methods and the needed motivation.

This social project will offer volunteers the chance of knowing other realities and improve skills related with social relations in a collaboration atmosphere between users and volunteers and volunteers and professionals working with us.

We can show volunteers working methodologies in specific programmes and for the daily work with our users. We are also open to receive suggestions related with previous experience of volunteers with this collective.

We also offer the chance of acquiring social experiences and abilities promoting solidarity and youth participation in the field of integration. Accepting and respecting a specific reality often comes from knowing that reality.

We will favour community relations, not only in the towns of the project:
- San Cebrián de Campos, small town where the presence of a European volunteer does not go unnoticed.

- Fromista, where we have a supervised flat and the reality of the programme is known through the participation of young volunteers in programmes managed by the City Council of Fromista.

Community relations will also be promoted in Palencia, showing them the leisure and cultural alternatives.

Volunteers will receive a basic, initial training:
- About our organisation: structure, reality,...
- Skills related with daily tasks of voluntary actions.
- Language training, adapted to the level of volunteers, with a private teacher.

The coordinator will continuously supervise the development of the project in collaboration with the mentor. Conflict solving, monitoring of activities and tasks will be done by the coordinator and the mentor.

Role of EVS volunteers in the host organisation:

The presence of volunteers is always valued by professionals and users. It is important for our users to know about other cultures and get involved in them.

Specifically, we value:
- Willing to integrate actively, in the project and the community.
- Personal motivation and a positive spirit.
- Multiplying role, making themselves seen as Europeans participating in such a project.
- Personal contribution to the project. With ideas and suggestions of activities and enriching the project.

Activities in which the volunteers may participate and activities they can create in the organisation: Examples of typical activities for the volunteers

Volunteers will participate under the supervision of the supervisor, leaders and technicians.


" In SAN CEBRIAN DE CAMPOS:

The activities will be carried out in the Day Centre, for external and internal users.

Volunteers will carry out the following activities (always supporting staff members):

- Preparation and implementation of daily activities.
- Make the participation in communication workshop easier, promoting conversations and the exchange of experiences.
- Support carrying out manual work of workshops.
- Support in the dining-room when needed: distribution of food, help with cutlery,...
- Support with activities related with the use of community resources: outings, shopping,...


" In Fromista:

We plan the opening of a service for people with disabilities in the near future.
This would be formed by 2 integration flats to attend 8 people with disabilities. Voluntary tasks would be to support daily life skills and life in the community.


In any case, volunteers can suggest a personal project and will receive all support from us for it. This would be guided by their initiatives and supervised by the mentor and supervisor to manage the enrichment of volunteers and the organisation within the reality of the centres.
Punctually, volunteers may participate in leisure activities of the organisation in the Jacob's Way with the users, as well as during holidays (planned yearly, with 1 or 2 groups of users), consisting of 1 week at the coast.


In all cases the mentor and the supervisor will be their reference, as well as the staff they support daily. They will guide them about the service, their tasks and the activities, as well as the group they will participate with.

Time of participation: from Monday to Friday, from 9 to 17:30 and a break in the morning and another one for lunch; language training is included in that time.
Free days: Saturday and Sunday, unless volunteers want to participate in leisure service on weekends (championships, camps,...) in which case the free days would be from Monday to Friday.
Holidays: 2 days per month of EVS service.

There will be no job substitution. Voluntary tasks are complementary and a support to staff.

Profile of the volunteer(s) and selection process:

There is no specific profile for the participation in this project.
Sensibility towards mental disabled people, open and participative character will be positively valued.

Information about the placements will be distributed to our partners and to mailing lists of the Youth Department of Castilla y Leon, with all placements in the projects.

Number of volunteers hosted:

4

Prevention of risks, security and protection:

Activities will always be guided and supervised by the mentor and supervisor of the project.
A basic training in this subject contemplating potential risks in the workshop and in everyday life, will be provided. This training will be conducted by the nurse of the Foundation and will include basic notions of first aid, procedures in specific cases, such as epilepsy.

The volunteers will also be handed the protocols for acting in case of an emergency, as well as a list of phone numbers for emergency services. We will also inform them about how to use the AXA insurance (doctor, reimbursement of bills,...).


The telephone from the Centre in San Cebrian de Campos is in operation 24 hours, so the professionals of the centre can be contacted at any time.

Motivation and EVS experience

The Foundation San Cebrian has a lot of experience in Action 2 from the Youth Programme, and in the EVS.

We participate since 1998 as a host and sending organisation. We want to continue as it provides us and the volunteers with a cultural enrichment. We have been accredited with ref. num. 2007-ES-88. We are currently participating with a hosted volunteer from Hungary and four volunteers sent to Belgium, Greece and Italy.

We also value greatly the opportunity it represents for our organisation to contact other European Associations and participate in other Actions. We also have experience in Actions 1.1 and 4.3. We have participated in two exchanges (Palencia, 2009 and Modigliana, Italy, 2010) and in a seminar in Palencia, June, 2010.
Description of the organisation
The Foundation San Cebrián is a non- profit private entity of regional scope, which cares for life of adults with learning disabilities.

It belongs to the network FEAPS (Spanish Confederation in support of the people with intellectual disabilities) its mission is to improve the quality of life of the people with learning disabilities and their families.

In pursue of this objective the centre offers services like:
-Housing (depending on the support needs of the users, we offer assisted homes, sheltered homes, supervised homes, etc.
-Day and occupational centre: we provide individual resources and occupational rehabilitation for the personal and social development.
-Education: transition to adult life and programmes of initial professional qualification.
-Special employment centre: productive activity in a protected environment.
Services for families and organisation activities: information, guidance, home visits, legal counselling,...

And programmes such as: Employment with support, support to families, respite care, Leisure and Sport, etc.

These services are offered in the following towns in the province of Palencia:
San Cebrian de Campos, with 475 inhabitants, base centre. We offer housing, day and occupational centre, education centre, kindergarten, etc.).
Palencia, 82,651 inhabitants. (headquarters, sheltered and supervised homes).
Carrión de los Condes, 2300 inhab. (1 supervised home, occupational centre, community centre "House of free dreams").
Villamuriel de Cerrato , 6177 inhab. (pre-working vocational centre)
Frómista: 822 inhab. Integration homes in the community and sheltered day centre.

We have a staff of over 200 professionals. We attend about 300 users.