The Centre Socio Culturel aims to offer everyone (children, young people and adults) in the Communes of Paimbœuf and Corsept the opportunity to raise awareness of their own competencies and achieve personal development in a friendly centre with social, cultural, sporting and educational activities. The Centre is an innovative and reactive intervention resource for young people in the Paimboeuf area.

These principal objectives are achieved through the work of volunteers with a strong commitment to the association's aims and through co-ordinators working in the different activity sectors:

- Children: with an activity centre and out-of-school club open all year.
- Young people: with two facilities for young people and pre-teenage clubs: one in Paimboeuf and the other in Corsept. It is in this area of our work that a young volunteer would be able to contribute the most added value to our association's work.
- Leisure for all: with different activities (dance, drama, fun gymnastics, etc.) offered to the whole population based on demand and needs. Other associations use the premises to offer activities (karate, fitness sessions, etc.).
- Employment and prevention: voluntary sector partnership with Inséretz, Retz'activités… A number of associations are working in this sector.
- Assistance with community activities: loan of rooms, equipment…

The young people's sector, in which the young European volunteer would work, comprises two salaried workers: a sector manager and co-ordinator of the youth club in Corsept and the co-ordinator of the Youth Club in Paimbœuf. Temporary youth workers are also employed during the school holidays. The youth club activities reflect the association's objectives. The educational objectives of the young people's sector are to promote responsible attitudes and access to autonomy in young people, to develop young people's activities in the Communes of Paimbœuf and Corsept and to develop inter-commune links.

The Centre Socio Culturel has 100 youth members (out of a total membership of 450); they are aged from 12 to 18 years.
Young people in the Paimboeuf area mainly come from a semi-rural background. As a general rule, they know very little about Europe and in particular the new member countries (Central European countries).

The youth clubs are open to young people aged 12 to 25. Services offered to the 18-25 age group consist of supporting job searches, accommodation (establishing contact with the local providers…) and dissemination of information (prevention, concerts, varied events).
The Paimbœuf and Corsept youth clubs are special places providing opportunities for young people to meet and communicate with each other, and also with adults. They promote the emergence of projects and initiatives. For projects to emerge successfully, the most important element is the provision of access and facilities for young people.
The centres offer young people the possibility of activities with others their own age or with the co-ordinators, or group activities (table football, board games, sports, cookery, etc.).
Through these exchanges and group activities, dialogue is established, ideas are born and the young people gradually become involved in projects. Some young people prefer not to get involved in any activity, seeking rather to talk over their problems.. with an adult outside the family or school setting.
Promoting personal development, openness to the outside world, initiative and the taking of responsibility by encouraging young people to get involved in different projects: these are the educational aims of the Centre Socio Culturel. It operates during the young people's free time, and therefore uses a leisure-based approach.
Mini-camps and camps are also organised by the youth clubs. These camps reflect the educational objectives of the youth clubs: involvement of the young people in organising the camp (menus, timetables, activities, bookings, etc.), community life (respect for others, work sharing, etc.), learning about an environment or an activity, communication between the young people themselves and with adults.

The out-of-school club is open every school day from 7.30 to 9.00 and 16.20 to 18.30. These before and after school times are transition periods between school and home. The morning club must therefore enable the children to wake up gently before the start of the school day (quiet games, colouring, etc.) while in the evening the children can "let off steam" which is why, after a teatime snack, the co-ordinators offer handicraft activities, sports and group games… though never forgetting that the choice of activities is theirs.

Paimboeuf is a small town, with 2762 inhabitants, undergoing enormous change with new people moving in and influenced by the growth of St Nazaire. The Commune of Paimboeuf runs along the Loire, 20 km from St Nazaire and 50 km from Nantes. It has the usual urban features. Paimbœuf is also in a rural location: the country areas of Corsept and Saint-Père en Retz are only two kilometres from the town centre.
The Sud Estuaire Community of Communes comprises 6 communes (Paimboeuf, Corsept, St Viaud, St Père, St Brévin and Frossay). It finances 3 youth centres in this area (Centre Socio Culturel at Paimboeuf, the Maison pour tous at St Père and the L'Escale association at St Brévin). These 3 centres have very few links with each other. Inter-centre initiatives would provide a new dynamic and new and stronger commitment to new areas of intervention, such as opening young people up to Europe.

At the Centre Socio Culturel, the motivation for hosting a young volunteer falls within the association's plans to open up to Europe and enable the young people hosted there to form social links with one another and with other generations.

- Cultural enrichment, for the people who use our facilities, particularly young people, and for the volunteer. Hosting a young European will mean opening up to a new culture, to new traditions. During his time with us, we will be drawing on the young volunteer's experiences. This will involve promoting the diversity of our common European culture and the heritage we share.
- Developing a European dynamic in a local area: hosting a volunteer will enable us to develop the Cultural Centre partnership in the Paimboeuf area, together with an inter-association dynamic based on the theme of Europe, notably with the Maison de l'Enfance in Paimbœuf, the Maison pour Tous in Saint-Père en Retz, the Red Cross, the Secours humanitaire Côte de Jade, Retz Activités, the two other Youth Centres in the Community of Communes, and more…
- Developing social links. The presence of the young person would enable the links within the association and at local level to be strengthened (organisation of themed dinners, aimed at local people), inter-generation relationships (organising performances for children, their parents and grandparents…)

The Centre Socio Culturel has already involved its full team of administrators and co-ordinators in hosting a young European. Several working meetings have brought together co-ordinators and the chairman of the association and contacts have been made with the Centre's partners with a view to preparing the young person's visit (accommodation, meals, language training). In addition, the elected representatives in Paimboeuf and Corsept have joined in this preparation work. One elected representative per commune has been nominated to monitor the young person's visit on the Steering Committee set up for the purpose.
In addition, the team will be fully involved in supporting the young person day-to-day during his time here in general and for his own personal development in terms of his needs and requirements.
The Young People sector manager - Mme Linda Degoulet - is also prepared to act as mentor for the young volunteer. Her role will involve assisting the volunteer to become part of the Centre, helping with information, providing support on any problems and guidance during activities and training.

The young volunteer will be hosted as part of an EVS project at the Centre Socio Culturel "Mireille Moyon" Paimbœuf-Corsept. He will be offered the opportunity to The following logistics are in place for hosting the young volunteer:

Language support: the young person will be able to take an adult course at the CSC (individual tuition delivered by volunteers). The young person will also be able to take the ICT workshop courses at the CSC. A budget of €500 has been allocated to enable the young person to take a particular course based on his project.
Accommodation: the young person will be given accommodation in privately-run lodgings where he will be able to meet other young people - students in particular - and forge links with them.
Meals: the young person will have the choice of either eating in his accommdation or at the DDASS facility at the Maison de l'Enfance, or at the activity centre (Wednesday lunchtimes and every lunchtime during school holidays).

http://ec.europa.eu/youth/evs/aod/hei_form_en.cfm?EID=14000458101