Project environment:
CAE, Formació i serveis socioculturals, (CAE), is a non-profit organisation declared of public use working for the promotion and diffusion of leisure education and socio-cultural activities. Its main operating scope are the regions of central Catalonia. CAE was founded in 1984 as a municipal school of leisure educators of the Town council of Manresa, and in 1987 it was transformed into a non-profit organisation.

The actions of CAE are divided in four main fields:
1. Training:
a. Leisure education (leaders, directors,)
b. Management and organisation of associations and training of volunteers
c. Activities for elderly
d. Theatre workshop
2. Socio-cultural and youth activities and programmes:
a. SAPSK? Youth information service
b. Game club
c. Activities in leisure education centres
3. Educational services:
a. Educational activities in schools
b. Youth and children holiday activities
4. Educational resources and published material:
a. Resource centre
b. Published material
c. Exhibitions

The organisation is formed by 30 youth who work as volunteers. They carry out the management of the organisation -in meetings- and design and execution of programmes -there are three working teams: leisure club, game club and published material-. There is also a professional technical team formed by 8 people who manage the educational activities and services and offer technical support to the working teams.
The main target group of our activities are youth and people in touch with youth (educators, leaders, monitors,…).
CAE has participated directly and indirectly in different Youth Programme actions. In 2003 and 2004 we organised hosting training activities for EVS participants. In 2004, several members participated in the meeting The Players which took place in Lecce (Italia) about traditional games as an activity element in public spaces.

Manresa is a city with a population of 72,328 inhabitants located between the metropolitan area of Barcelona -industrial- and the mountain and agrarian regions of the inner Catalonia. It is a city which has changed enormously in the past years due to the demographic growth, directly related to migration movements. Apart from immigrant groups, Manresa hosts more and more citizens from the metropolitan area of Barcelona who look for better economic conditions when buying a house.
19% of the total population are youth with ages between 15 and 19 years (13,745).
Manresa has a strong cultural and organisation activity. The city has over 300 organisations, clubs and entities which, in many cases, are the real designers and executers of cultural and artistic programmes, aid and social services, training and socio-cultural programmes,… Within this frame, CAE wants to host long term EVS volunteers.


B. Proposed activities for EVS volunteers
The project "SAPSK? Youth information service", where the EVS volunteers will participate, forms part of the socio-cultural activities and programmes of CAE for youth. It consists in an information point and several information and awareness campaigns and activities for youth. These activities are carried out in schools, youth premises and backgrounds. Three people (youth information agents) are involved in the project.

The EVS volunteers will participate in this working team and take part in the preparation and execution of the different activities of the service, as detailed under these lines. In no case will the volunteers assume team responsibilities. Tasks of volunteers:
1. Collaborate in communication, design and diffusion activities of SAPSK?
a. Maintenance of web site
b. Design of diffusion material (booklets, posters,...) and information material (exhibitions,...).
c. Maintenance of monthly electronic bulletin.
d. Creation of a digital photo album of the activities.

2. Collaborate in the management and administration of a youth information point:
a. Assistance to public
b. Search and classification of information
c. Up-date of information boards

CAE will offer training and integration possibilities to the volunteers:
" Training at arrival: information about Manresa, city services, transports, administrations, equipments,…
" Specific training to participate in the organisation: information about the different working fields (training, children activities, socio-cultural projects, leisure education, games, published material,…) and how it works.
" Specific training to participate in the project SAPSK? and the working team: needed training for the work in the project and team: socio-cultural entertaining, computer systems, management and administration of a youth information service, youth in Manresa,…
" Complementary training: volunteers may participate in the training activities promoted by the organisation. CAE is a training centre which organises about 3,000 hours/year of training activities about leisure, volunteering, socio-cultural entertaining, activities for elderly, theatre,…

The volunteers will also be invited to participate as members in the organisation and so participate in the teams of volunteers, different participation organs (meetings, common activities,…) and general activities (Moguda a l'Agulla, Setmana de Jocs al Carrer, Vespres de Joc, etc.).

The volunteer will acquire a real view of how organisations work and educational and socio-cultural programmes and activities are carried out in Catalonia and, in general, in Spain.

Participation: 25h/week, plus language training:
" Maintenance of web site and e-bulletin (10 h.)
" Design of diffusion and information material (9 h.)
" Public assistance (occasionally)
" Internal work , coordination activities, search and classification of information (6 h)

Service hours: 25 hours/week, in our working times, from Monday to Friday, from 10 to 14 h. and from 17 to 20h.

Profile of the volunteer(s) and selection process:
Volunteer:
" Aged between 18 and 30 years; man or woman
" Motivated to work with youth and sensibility for it
" With skills to communicate with people
" With motivation and skills to work in teams
" With organising and planning skills
" With skills to adapt in a new background
" Other requirements: we will give priority to volunteers with experience in organisations from the socio-cultural, youth, non-formal education and similar working fields as those of CAE will be given priority. With this we want to favour the creation of international organisation networks which allow the collaboration in the projects of the organisations and further collaboration after the service period.

Las vías que nos garantizan un proceso de selección abierto y transparente son, por un lado, el portal web Youth Networks por el que estamos inscritos como organización coordinadora, y por otro lado, el contacto con organizaciones previas, y los mismos contactos directos que los jóvenes voluntarios solicitan a su organización coordinadora, que está inscrita al Youth Networks.
La selección del voluntario se realiza de forma conjunta entre la organización coordinadora y de acogida. En una primera fase, de pre-selección del voluntaria, es la organización coordinadora quién decide, según los requisitos previos establecidos, el primer filtro de voluntarios. Una vez elegido los candidatos con mejor perfil, son ambas organizaciones, pero sobretodo el peso recae en la organización de acogida quién decide finalmente el voluntario.
Se intenta dar oportunidad a elegir voluntarios de paises nuevos que no acostumbran a participar en nuestros proyectos.

Prevention of risks, security and protection:
CAE has hired a service of health and safety at work with the company RISCPREVENT (Guitart Isanta Assciats, SL), following the Spanish regulations. This company has carried out an evaluation of risks at SAPSK? Youth information service.
In hosting training, volunteers will be informed and trained about the possible risks at work during their activity.
Regarding their activities out of working hours, volunteers will have the AXA insurance, information about the health services in Manresa and the mobile phone number of the mentor at the coordinating organisation, Consell Comarcal del Bages.
We will carry out a formal and informal monitoring of the EVS activity and daily life of volunteers, in order to avoid possible crisis situations.
The fact of sharing a flat in Manresa (location of the project) with other European volunteers allows to carry out a multiple monitoring: supervisor, mentor and flat-mates (the mentor talks to them regularly and tries to detect through them risk situations which he communicates to the host organisation, CAE).