Hyvärilä Youth Centre from Nurmes, Finland is looking for short-term EVS-volunteers and sending partner organizations for a new EVS project.

Our short term group EVS project is planned to have duration of 3 weeks in October 2009. We would like to have up to 10 volunteers.
The project would take place in Youth Workshop Apaja, which is part of Hyvärilä Youth Centre. Apaja is a workshop for unemployed local youth, who have had problems finding a suitable field of study or interesting employment. The volunteers would make selected renovation works as well as some creative workshops during their volunteering. Each volunteer would have her/his own Finnish tutor from one of the local youth who are daily at Apaja.

Hyvärilä Youth Centre is pleased to get involved with EVS activities and provide memorable as well as useful experiences for many volunteers in the coming years. Hyvärilä Youth Centre has not been sending or receiving EVS volunteers before, but has had before an EVS volunteer contributing from local 4H association. As the process of internationalisation of Hyvärilä Youth Centre is actively going on, an EVS volunteer will have an important role in the working community. Besides functioning as a receiving organisation, we hope to send as many local youth of Nurmes to EVS volunteering as possible in the future years. We will provide all the support as needed for both incoming and outgoing volunteers.

Hyvärilä Youth Centre is a specially equipped and furnished centre of travelling and youth work. It is part of a national network of 10 youth centres specialized in youth work. Its function is to develop the methods used in the field of youth work, to act as a center for furthering the skills of the youth, and enable young people's traveling. The centers are run under the Finnish law covering youth work. Ministry of Education supports the work carried out at Hyvärilä Youth Centre.
Hyvärilä Youth Centre organises youth camps, school camps, package holidays and activities all year round and are themed around the surrounding nature. All services such as accommodation, meals and activities are available at the Hyvärilä. There are a swimming beach, badminton, floor ball, tennis, and beach volley courts, a freestyle jump etc. Hyvärilä has various possibilities to enjoy paddling, fishing, climbing, bouldering, hiking, golf and much more. In winter time, there is also dog sleigh driving, snow shoeing, skiing, and snow mobile safaris available. Hyvärilä offers a versatile arts and crafts selection all year round; for example jewelry and felting. Approximately 70 % of the users are youth, and the rest are adults consisting of families, business groups, and associations.
The municipal youth work of Nurmes is also under the Hyvärilä Youth Centre, so one of the most important target groups of our work are the local youth of Nurmes.