Volunteer for a humanitarian organisation with refugees in Thessaloniki, Northern Greece

Details

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  Description

  We are a grassroots organisation providing humanitarian aid and assistance to refugees across Europe. Our organisation was founded in September 2015 as a platform to coordinate volunteer efforts responding to humanitarian emergencies across the Balkan route. Since 2015, we have settled in Northern Greece and developed into a volunteer-based aid organisation guided by the principle “dignity first”, focusing on sustainable and long-term support by means of material help, community building, social activities, and informal education.
  
  We currently have 2 main projects: the Warehouse and the Community Centre.
  
  Warehouse
  The purpose of the warehouse is emergency relief: closing gaps in the official aid system. It is the largest humanitarian warehouse in the region and functions as a logistical hub for Northern Greece, supporting several camps and social projects in the region. Donations come from all across Europe and volunteers receive and sort the relief supplies and pack them for orders placed by other organisations.
  
  The Community Centre
  The aim of the Centre is to provide aid and dignity, build community and social inclusion, offer informal education, foster a sense of belonging, and provide access to crucial information.
  We currently run the following activities:
  - Informal adult English lessons (sometimes also Greek and German)
  - A child-friendly space
  - An Employment and Information Centre
  - Community time
  - Football & field games
  - Women’s space & teen girls’ space
  From the centre we run monthly distributions of hygiene products for the residents of the local camp, as well as offering a freeshop style distribution of clothing.
  
  We create weekly and daily plans and volunteers are allocated to different tasks and rotated around the projects. Volunteers joining as general volunteers will be placed in either location in any of the sub projects as per the needs of the organisation. We try to match people's interests to roles, but we firmly believe that supporting the project as a whole is the main goal and therefore tasks and days may change.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Teaching

  Babysitting and creative play

  General Maintenance
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Working here is an opportunity to develop and share your skills in a humanitarian grassroots organisation.
  
  You'll be part of a team that cares about the work that they do and we all work towards the same goal. However, this also comes with responsibility: we always work to a professional standard and appropriate to the humanitarian aid context. We provide training so don't worry if you don't have any experience working in this field.

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  Registered charity

  This host is a registered charity in their country and is looking for volunteers to help with their project(s).

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  As a general volunteer you don't need to have any specific skills apart from being passionate about our cause, motivated to work in a challenging environment, flexible and committed, at least 20 years old, able to come to Greece for at least 6 weeks, and can provide a background check/criminal record certificate (or equivalent). We hold full interviews with potential candidates and request police checks and two references from all those who we offer a position too.
  
  Some of our volunteers have dedicated roles that can require specific skills, experience and a longer stay. Taking on a specific role does not mean not working in other parts of the project; we expect volunteers to help where it is needed. However, it involves taking on additional responsibility for one aspect of the project.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  The volunteer flat is located in Diavata (about 30 minutes bus journey from Thessaloniki train station). Volunteers share a room with 2-3 other volunteers. In the volunteer flat there are 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 kitchens, a large communal area, an office / meeting room and several balconies. There is a recommended donation of 150€ a month as contribution to living expenses (bills, fuel, rent).

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  What else ...

  There are a lot of things to do on your weekly days-off in the area such as going to Thessaloniki (20 min drive, 30 min bus journey), the second biggest city in Greece, where there are many cultural sites to visit, museums, bars, cafes, tavernas. In the region, there're a lot of beautiful beaches and mountains.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Standard street parking available.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets
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  This host charges a fee

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  Why does Workaway allow some hosts to charge a fee?

  
  

  Workaway provides opportunities for non-monetary cultural exchanges where hosts provide food and accommodation in return for help from Workawayers. In some exceptional cases, a small fee/ donation request (typically no more than 5 dollars per day) may be approved for hosts such as registered charities with a history of positive volunteer feedback. Any fee must directly go to the charity and can only be used to cover the volunteers' food costs. This will be clearly marked on the host's listing.
  

  Listings by agents, "middle-men" or projects that appear to profit from a volunteer's stay are strictly prohibited. Any fees must be discussed and approved in advance by the Workaway team.

  8€ a day contribution towards living costs, falling to 3€ a day after 1 month

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