A. Project environment: profile of the organisation and local community
The residence centres, ambulant assisted living apartments and ambulant counselling services of the BHH gGmbH are situated throughout Hamburg. Hamburg has a population of 1.7 million and is one of the largest cities in Germany. Because of its university, its harbour and many cultural, social and tourist attractions there are many things to do in leisure time.
The ambulant assisted living apartment (AWG) Grumbrechtstraße, the flat-sharing community Am Frankenberg and the ambulant councelling service south are located in Hamburg-Harburg, a district in the south of Hamburg. Hamburg-Harburg has its own infrastructure. From the AWG Grumbrechtstraße it is a 5 minute walk to the suburban railway station Heimfeld from where you can reach the city centre in 20 minutes. House Eckel is located near Buchholz in der Nordheide, a city near Hamburg-Harburg.

The principal objective of the help system is to integrate the disabled person into society and enable the person to take part in the life of the local community. The support of the disabled people always focuses on the individual needs and is aimed at realizing a life that is self-determined.

Possible support activities to realise this objective consist of:

¢ support in everyday life (household, contact with public authorities, orientation in the environment, shopping, cooking, washing clothes, visiting the doctor)
¢ supporting the disabled person to develop a life perspective
¢ supporting the disabled person when suffering personal problems
¢ helping the disabled person to build up a social network
¢ individual company of leisure time activities (e.g. sport, cinema)
¢ group company of leisure time activities (e.g. drawing class, theatre workshop, café)

The 4 institutions are situated close to each other and therefore also try to develop and realize joint cultural and social activities, e.g. with the European volunteers from the project Come Together.

B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers
What the volunteer can learn:
The young volunteer can gain great experience by living with other young people and part-taking in the EVS-project. For example:
¢ Getting to know the life of adults with intellectual disabilities (and severe physical disabilities)
¢ Experiencing the different support systems in the work with disabled people that lay focus on the emancipation of disabled people
¢ Getting to know the work of the different occupational groups engaged in the work with disabled people (professional staff, young people doing their alternative civilian service or voluntary social year, other European volunteers) and exchange experiences
¢ Developing their own ideas, realising their personal interests and abilities in the daily work
¢ Getting to know different ways of living by working and living together with people with different cultural backgrounds (learning, to deal with foreign people and unfamiliar situations, dealing with conflicts, that might arise from different points of views and experiences)
¢ Getting to know social and cultural activities in Hamburg and its surrounding areas

Volunteer role and tasks:
The volunteer works either in the AWG Grumbrechtstraße or in the flat-sharing community Am Frankenberg. When there are special projects, the volunteer also works in house Eckel or the ambulant councelling service south for some hours or one day per week.

In the project Come Together the volunteers offer leisure time and cultural activities to adults with physical or intellectual disabilities.

The volunteer works 35 hours on 5 days per week. There is an entitlement to holidays for 2.5 days per month. Usually the volunteer works in the afternoon or evening hours, because many of the disabled persons go to work (e.g. to a sheltered workshop). Sometimes the volunteer will have to work at the weekend when residents want to visit activities like a concert or a festival. If there are activities with a disabled person at the weekend the volunteer will be compensated with extra days-off for his/her participation in these activities.
Complementary to the existing stationary and ambulant support system the volunteer gets involved in small projects to give individuals or groups of disabled persons the chance to take part in the social and cultural life of Hamburg. In the following there are some examples for typical activities of European volunteers:

¢ individual company of certain residents during leisure time activities
¢ company of small groups for leisure time activities (e.g. cultural activities, sport)
¢ equal experiences and common learning of disabled persons (as local experts) and European volunteers (as leisure time animate)
¢ development of his or her own cultural projects according to the volunteer's ideas and abilities (e.g. theatre project, making a film, organizing a day trip, internet project)
¢ working in one of the existing projects and bring in his or her own ideas (e.g. internet café)


Example of a weekly timetable of the volunteer (interested in computers, sport and culture):
Monday:
Free
Tuesday:
10:00 - 12:00: meeting of all volunteers of all projects within the BHH gGmbH, planning of social activities and exchange of experiences
16:00 - 18:00: accompanying 3 residents to a sport club
18:00 - 20:00: meeting with residents, planning of leisure time activities
20:00 - 22:00: EVS project internet café
Wednesday:
16:00 - 18:00: accompanying residents to the adult education centre
18:00 - 20:00: EVS project "We are playing theatre"
Thursday:
10:00 - 12:00: individual company (one resident goes for a walk and visits relatives)
16:00 - 18:00: playing games (in a housing community)
18:00 - 20:00: EVS project computer course for disabled people
Friday:
14:00 - 16:00: individual company (3 residents are going to a cinema)
16:00 - 18:00: individual company
18:00 - 20:00: open offer, e.g. accompanying residents who want to go to a disco, the cinema, an event or a cultural evening event
Saturday:
14:00 - 16:00: open offer, e.g. excursion to the sea
16:00 - 18:00: preparation of a disco evening
18:00 to open end: disco with the residents
Sunday:
Free

C. Volunteer profiles and recruitment process
Profile of the volunteer
We wish to welcome young people, who
" like to be in contact with people with disabilities
" bring along with them engagement, who are proactive, flexible and creative
" bring along empathy for the people with disabilities
" are interested in cultural activities
" are motivated to learn German also outside the language course (to be able to communicate with the people with disabilities)

Recruitment Process
The coordinating organisation BHH gGmbH coordinates 4 projects with 11 volunteers.
All free places are to be seen in the databank of EVS-works and EURODESK.
In addition the coordinating organisation BHH gGmbH promotes for the free places by contacting sending organisations it already cooperates with and sending organisations it hasn't yet cooperated with. Selecting the volunteers the BHH gGmbH attends the following criteria:
" per project only one volunteer from the same country
" in between the group of 11 volunteers a good mixture of home countries
" a good mixture of women and men
" age minimum 18 years at beginning of the EVS
" the candidates must be really interested in the work with people with disabilities.

First of all the young people and the sending organisations have to contact the coordinating person of the BHH gGmbH. They get a detailed project description of the project they are interested in. The coordinating person exchanges emails and has telephone calls with them to be sure about their motivation. She needs a CV and a motivation letter and asks more questions if required. The finally decision will be taken by the tutor of the project and the coordinating person.
The young people and the sending organisations will be informed about free places within one week after their enquiry. If we can't offer any place to the young person (no place available, person is over 25 years old without having fewer opportunities, interested in another field of work, for example art, media, we decided for another applicant), they will be informed with the indications of reasons.

We are open to cooperate with every sending organisation.

D. Special needs (if applicable).
We have the capacities to take young people who have educational difficulties (early-school-leavers, etc.), cultural differences, economic difficulties and geographical difficulties. All volunteers get the support they need from their tutor and from the EVS-coordinator. The tutors and the coordinator have a lot of experiences in being in charge of volunteers (national and international) and there are regular meetings between them to speak about difficulties and problems.
Unfortunately we haven't enough personal resources to support young people who have heavy social or health difficulties.
As they work with disabled people it is important for them that they are able to deal with the topic and that they bring with them some psychic strength.

E. Risk prevention, safety and protection
We guarantee safe and clean living conditions. The 3 volunteers of the project Come Together live together in an apartment with three bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. They can wash the clothes in their project.
They have safe working conditions. This is guaranteed by the project itself and the attendance of the tutors and the other members of staff.

Brigitte Depner, head of the AWG Grumbrechtstraße is the tutor of the volunteers. Together with the tutor the volunteer plans the volunteer's work at the project and reflects about the work and his/her experiences as a European volunteer. The volunteer gets support for the particular duty and takes part in team meetings. If volunteers like to focus on certain issues like closeness and distance in the work with disabled persons, we organise discussions for the tutors and volunteers of the four EVS-projects of the BHH gGmbH.
There are also regular meetings once a month of all volunteers (with and without the tutors) at the BHH gGmbH to enable the volunteers from different projects to get in contact with each other and to plan projects together.
By these meetings a regular exchange about good things and problems and fears is guaranteed by the tutor and the coordinating person. If there are problems in the project they will be solved as soon as possible. If there are problems with the tutor, there will be a change of the tutor.

Once a month volunteers and tutors get together and undertake leisure time activities together e.g. go to the opera, the theatre or go on a harbour trip to get to know Hamburg.
The BHH gGmbH offers its staff a program for education and training and the volunteers are allowed and encouraged to take part in these seminars.

For all Projects there is the same course:
The volunteer has 3 phases in the projects:

1. Phase (2 month):
¢ language course (4 weeks) at a private language school in Hamburg (20 hours per week)
¢ first training course (2 weeks) organized by the national agency Jugend für Europa
¢ getting to know the different organisations of the BHH gGmbH
¢ getting to know the disabled persons in their housing and life situation
¢ getting to know the district and its offers
¢ developing of confidence and ideas (between tutor and volunteer)

2. Phase (2 month):
¢ accompanying the residents (single or group activities)
¢ regular meetings of all European volunteers
¢ coordination of overlapping activities (joint leisure time events and activities of residents and European volunteers)
¢ developing own initiatives (own interests and ideas for leisure time offers and projects)
¢ planning of long term projects

3. Phase (depending on the duration of the EVS from 4 to 8 month):
¢ Mid-Term-Meeting organized by the national agency Jugend für Europa
¢ EVS action with individual planning of the week depending on individual interests
¢ This individual plan for the week is continuously carried on and discussed between tutor and volunteer

Tutor
Brigitte Depner, head of the AWG Grumbrechtstraße is since the beginning of the project Come Together in 2001 responsible for the European volunteers.