Basic Requirements of Depaul Ireland EVS Volunteers: - Empathic and non-judgmental - Ability to use initiative and be flexible and open to new situations - Interested in, and a basic understanding of the issues around homelessness - Willing to work with people who are on the margins of society - We have the structures and capability to work with volunteers who are more disadvantaged. Due to the nature of the project and the client group we work with we have a number specific requirements of the volunteer. We would be looking for volunteers who are interested in working with disadvantaged individuals, and can see the positives in them as well as the support they need. They should choose our project because of the unique experience and development they will gain. As a lot of the volunteers' activities will centre around communication it would be favourable if our volunteers had a basic knowledge of English.

The Centre is located in the heart of the town in a new building at the headquarters of Donegal Youth Service. The building is home to over 20 staff both full-time and part-time. The Youth Information Centre itself has a team of 4 and shares a drop-in space with another Donegal Youth Service project, the LOFT LK - a health advice café. The Youth Information Centre will typically have a through-put of over 25000 annually, comprising of information queries, browsers, internet users and outreach programme participants. Therefore both volunteers work will incorporate information provision, group workshops and drop in supervision.

The two volunteers will be placed at Letterkenny YIC. We envisage both volunteers will work separately on a number of tasks, but also work together on occasion. The hours of work will include some occasional evening and weekend work. The two EVS volunteers will rotate their hours each week, which will offer each volunteer a wider breadth of experience in terms of the work of the Youth Information Centre.

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We aim to support young people from the Letterkenny and Donegal areas to apply for EVS projects across Europe in a range of themes and activities through the project database.

We will offer the traditional sending organisation support, including offer them pre-departure training and advice and help on agreeing activity agreements and finding suitable travel arrangements, as well as offering support to them while they travel to the host country. We will also arrange end of project evaluation training with the volunteers when they arrive back to their home country.

Motivation and EVS experience

Letterkenny Youth Information has for many years been involved in youth work at a European level, participating in numerous youth exchanges as well as youth initiative projects. We are an organisation serving the needs of a growing youth population in Letterkenny. The opportunity to participate in the EVS Prgramme as a Host Organisation since 2008 has been a distinct highlight in the life of our organisation. The benefits obtained by both our organisation and the Volunteer are significant and the obvious potential that is available via the EVS Programme is very much appealing to our organisation.

In our day to day operations, we rely on the generosity of volunteers, and the chance to have 2 volunteers full-time for up to 9 months would greatly assists our centre and the service we provide to the young people.

There is a common understanding among staff of the benefits of volunteering, both to the organisation and the individual. With this in mind we are enthusiastic, about the opportunity to continue to provide a quality placement for a Volunteer, whereby a volunteer can enhance their own experience in the field of youth work. With this in mind it is our desire to obtain approval as a Host Organisation. Having EVS volunteers for the 2 years has greatly increased the profile of the EVS programme in our locality. The Youth Information Centre has already participated in 2 EVS projects, having initially hosted a Spanish EVS volunteer for 9 months in 2008/2009 before then going on to host 2 EVS volunteers for 9 months from July 2009 to April 2010.

Description of the organisation

The Letterkenny Youth Information Centre has been in existence since 1998 and has gone from strength to strength. The service has three full-time staff, a Co-ordinator, a Development Officer and an Information Officer. We also have a part-time Assistant Information Officer. The Youth Information Centre works with young people to enable them to access information and advice in a youth friendly safe arena.

The centre caters for young people aged 12 to 25, parents and those who work with young people, for example teachers and youth workers. It currently caters for on average 2000 young people per month. The centre operates under the National Youth Information guidelines, and offers a unique approach to youth information in that the information team strive to animate the information through courses and innovative projects. The service operates a state of the art drop in centre (in partnership with The LOFT LK) and a rich and varied outreach programme.