More than 1.18 million people in Moscow take part in volunteer projects. The flagship of good deeds in the capital is the resource center “Mosvolonter”. Among the active volunteers who are registered on the center’s website, there are over 200 thousand people.
Mosvolonter is more than nine years old. The Winter Olympics in Sochi 2014 became the prologue of the history of the resource center. Today, Mosvolonter is a true friend for everyone who wants to help other people and the city.
The number of volunteers is growing every year. In order to form a comfortable urban infrastructure for the volunteer community, in 2022 they began to create a network of volunteer district centers “Good Place”. The centers are open daily for Muscovites.
More than 10 areas of volunteering are developing in Moscow. The most popular is event-based. In the second place – the social direction, in the third – the cultural one. Environmental, patriotic, sports, zoo, volunteering in the field of health protection, public safety, media volunteering, corporate, inclusive volunteering are also available for citizens.
The event direction attracts with the scale and variety of functions at both city and federal events. For example, volunteers help at the festivals “Moscow Seasons”, “The City of not indifferent”, at the Moscow Urban Forum, the International Exhibition-Forum “Russia”.
As part of the social direction, Muscovites help children who live in orphanages, wards of nursing homes, large families. Assistance continues to be provided to residents of new regions of the Russian Federation within the framework of the Moscow Helps campaign.
Volunteers help in the archives of libraries and museums, participate in championships, take care of nature, become donors, take care of animals in shelters. Volunteers make media content about events, develop corporate volunteering, hold events for people with disabilities (HIA).
Today, the field of volunteering can be called barrier-free and accessible to everyone. Everyone has the opportunity to do good deeds, regardless of age, profession, education. The majority of the volunteer movement of the capital is made up of young people. Older Muscovites, aged 55 and over, are also active participants. They are called “silver” volunteers.
Who can become a volunteer?
Everyone can become a volunteer and do useful things for the city, his district, and people. To do this, you only need a desire to help. You can independently participate in events as part of the volunteer corps from the age of 14. Younger volunteers do good deeds and participate in events together with their parents.
In order to join the movement, you need to register on the center’s website and create a personal account. Then select the event you like in the “Events” section and send an application for it.
Muscovites can join communities of different areas of volunteerism. Participants get access to the profile telegram channel, where they learn the specifics of the direction in thematic headings, communicate with like-minded people, can initiate events and see photo reports about past events.
Help together with family near home
There are six Good Place volunteer centers in Moscow for citizens and organizations: in the southern, eastern, southeastern, western and northern districts, as well as in Zelenograd. Convenient location, equipped premises and interesting activities create conditions for the development of volunteering.
In the centers, you can attend events of various formats: open lectures in all areas of volunteering, master classes and trainings from community experts, interactive meetings. Volunteers receive advice when creating socially significant projects or applying for volunteer competitions. On Saturday and Sunday, a “Good Weekend” is held to get acquainted with the volunteer asset of the district.
Muscovites who regularly collect recyclables can take it to the boxes in the centers: bottle caps, waste paper, plastic. You can also transfer animal feed from the capital’s shelters.
How to learn volunteering?
In order for volunteers to perform their functions efficiently, general and functional briefings are conducted. There are also free full-time competency development programs and online courses.
On the course of a novice volunteer “Turn on!” they study the basics of volunteerism. The “Manage!” course is designed for team leaders and managers. With the help of experts, experienced volunteers learn how to interact with a team of volunteers during events. At the “Teach” training, volunteers learn to conduct classes and briefings for city assistants. Intensive “Five Keys” is designed for the organizers of voluntary associations. “The first step” introduces students to volunteering. Novice volunteers can also learn about volunteering through the board game “Volunteers in the City”.
To help the volunteers, a library with useful manuals has been created on the Mosvolonter website. Muscovites can get knowledge about effective work with volunteers, about the development of trainings for the preparation of city assistants, about the organization of a volunteer squad at school.
How can I confirm my volunteer experience?
The personal book of a volunteer is an official document of a volunteer, which takes into account his volunteer experience, and also contains information about additional training, skills and competencies. The information from the personal book confirms the experience for applying to the volunteer corps during major international or regional events.
You can apply for a medical certificate remotely in a special section on the Mosvolonter website. There is also a service on the portal – a volunteer’s personal e-book (LEKV), which allows you to link your personal account with events on the Mosvolonter website with a profile on the Dobro platform.RF” to include the verified hours in the supporting document about the volunteer experience.
You can learn more about volunteering on the “Mosvolonter” page in VKontakte and the telegram channel.
A source: https://mosvolonter.ru/
The material was prepared by: Alina Kardanova
Anastasia Stadnik
Natalia Malakhova
