Volunteering in Denmark

Volunteering in Denmark

The Danish welfare model

In Denmark we have the universal welfare model. The universal part of the welfare model indicates that it is in fact for everyone: not only the most unfortunate people in our society, but also the most fortunate. For this to function properly the Danes have to pay high taxes in order to receive the numerous universal welfare benefits. Amongst the welfare benefits are our free schoolings systems where universities are included; our free health care system which means we can go to the doctor’s office whenever it seems necessary as well as going to the hospital, getting surgery etc.; students that are 18 or older receive student grants every month from the state to (mainly) be able to overcome the life as a student, especially if the student is living by themselves so they can pay for rent, food, textbooks and so on; and last but not least: if you are unemployed the state will pay you cash benefits and make sure you don’t end up on the street, but in order to keep receiving these benefits when you are of job, you have to constantly apply for jobs with the help from local job centres.  

 

Because of our welfare model and the different benefits, volunteer work might not as necessary in Denmark as it is in other countries, but nonetheless there are an abundance of different volunteer organisations nationwide. The organisations take on different kinds of issues such as illnesses, animal cruelty, loneliness and so forth.

 

Volunteer work in Hillerød

In our hometown of Hillerød there are also different kinds of volunteer work. For instance, there are three different stores which sell donated clothes, furniture and different kinds of knick-knacks. These shops are run by different kinds of volunteer organisations, examples being the international Red Cross and “Kirkens Korshær”, which is a Danish Christian relief agency. These stores are non-profit, and the earnings are donated to different humanitarian causes, both locally and globally. It is most commonly the elderly who run these stores, since they have to stay open during ordinary school- and work hours. They are greatly supported by the local community, and every generation can be seen donating and buying from these stores. However, it is not only the elderly who volunteer in Hillerød. The younger generation, which we belong to ourselves, have plenty of opportunities to volunteer too. Many teenagers volunteer in their local sports clubs, which can be done in plenty of ways; some teach children how to play football, whilst others help out during tournaments. Annually, there’s a big hucksters’ market in Hillerød, where a lot of local organisations and sport clubs set up a stall where volunteers from all ages sell homemade food in order to raise money for a certain cause or their sports club. It is also very common for parents to volunteer in their children's sports club as a coach for the team or as a helping hand around the club; this makes it possible for children from all social layers to play a broad spectre of sports, since it highly reduces the price.  The purpose of this kind of volunteering is often different than the purpose of the volunteering that goes on in the Red Cross store. Volunteering in a sports club secures funds for the local community, i.e. the sports club, whereas volunteering in the stores mostly secures funds for developing countries or other projects that aren’t local.

 

Volunteer work at our school

At Frederiksborg Gymnasium we have a few volunteering initiatives. For example, one day every year the students are offered an opportunity to do volunteer work in cooperation with “Operation Dagsværk”. This organisation has existed in Denmark since the mid-80’s and every year they ask high school students for their help to raise money for different purposes. In our time at the school we’ve raised money for the LGBT community in Kenya, helped giving youngsters a voice to be heard in Somaliland and, last but not least, help Guatemala fight inequality and unemployment as well as improving their educational opportunities.

 

Furthermore, the Danish Red Cross organisation are apart of our school volunteer work as well. They try to get as many of the students to participate in their yearly fundraising and to get the students even more involved they hand out prices to the schools with the highest number of participants. In 2016, the high school with the most participants won a concert at their school with the worldwide known Danish singer MØ.

 

Another volunteering project at our school is the Amnesty Youth club, which collaborates with the non-profit organisation Amnesty International. This organisation collaborates with schools all around Denmark. Members of Amnesty Youth spread awareness of different humanitarian subjects through campaigns, which most commonly consists of videos, posters and signature petitions. Amnesty International usually determine a handful of yearly campaigns, which vary in subject. In a recent campaign, the subject was “My body, my rights”, which focused on women’s right to determine what happens to their own bodies with a special focus on Ireland’s abortion laws. These campaigns are very well received at the school, and contribute to the general focus on humanitarian matters.

 

Our experiences with volunteer work

Maria Aarup: I have been volunteering on several occasions. In my 10 years of being a scout, I have participated in the annual fundraising for Danish Church Aid. In school context, I have participated in the “Operation Dagsværk”, and by that helped to raise money for various projects in Africa. Additionally, I have in my spare time participated in the volunteer project DFUNK (Danish Refugees Youth), where my work has been to integrate refugees into their local town. Here I have, with a host of other volunteers, prepared various activities, such as pumpkin carving, an iceskating trip and Christmas-cutting and pasting. It was great to meet people with a very different background than my own and thereby experience a different way of looking at things.

 

Melissa Nielsen: I have been volunteering since I was a child through my handball club. I sold advent calendars around Christmas time and sold food at the aforementioned yearly hucksters’ market, both to raise money for the club. When I went to primary school, I was a school crossing patrol a couple times a week, which means that I made sure that the small children got safely across the trafficked road next to my school. In these past few years, I have volunteered in a couple different projects, both through my school and outside of it. I have participated in “Operation Dagsværk” and in an annual day for collecting money for charitable purposes - both of these projects had been advertised at our school. Also, I am a third year member of the aforementioned Amnesty club. Outside of school, I have been a voluntary visitor for elderly citizens. This is a nationwide program, which is arranged by Red Cross. Once a week, I visited a lonely woman at a nursing home, who needed someone to talk to. I hope this experience was every bit as rewarding for her, as it was for me.

 

Maria Larsen: Unfortunately, I have not done as much volunteer work as I would have liked. My first time doing any sort of volunteering was in 7th grade when me and my classmates sold Christmas seal to help raise money for the Danish Handicap Federation. In my time at Frederiksborg Gymnasium, I have participated in both “Operation Dagsværk” where I worked at a local podiatrists office selling shoes and such. The money I earned went to LGBT community in Kenya as previously mentioned. Furthermore, I participated in the Red Cross fundraising with my friend where we went door to door in one of the neighbourhoods in Hillerød. It was for a good cause and it was fun spending the day with my friend.

 

The benefits of volunteering

Volunteering is unpaid, so the rewards you reap will be more emotional and perhaps spiritual, rather than economic.

Here, the benefits could be:

- to make a difference for others - and yourself

- to support a case, you feel passionate about

- to meet new people and expand your network

 

For students who need volunteer work to upgrade their CV or qualify for scholarships, so volunteering is a particularly important and necessary commitment of time. Our high school offers proof of one's voluntary work, so you have the opportunity to show this for future education.

So the benefits to us as students are:

- to use existing skills and gain new knowledge, experiences and skills

- to get something on your CV and a stronger position in relation to new education or jobs

Volunteering in Sweden

 

Volunteering in Sweden / Ronneby

 

 

 

We believe that volunteering is an important part in society and a lot of people in Ronneby are involved in some voluntary work one way or another in their spare time. There are several different volunteering organisations here like ”Stödkassan”, Lions, UNF and much more. Some of us are, or have been, involved in a few of these organisations personally.

”Stödkassan” is a volunteer organisation run by five people. ”Stödkassan” has a facebook page where they post when families are in desperate need of help with, for example, food or clothes. People can then donate clothes, food or money to the organisation so that they can help the families. ”Stödkassan” mostly helps families with children.

 

“Lions club” is one of the largest aid organisations in the world since they have 1,4 million members. The members are committed to helping in community and aid projects since the club wants to help to make the world into a better place for everybody. Lions works against violence, drugs and bullying and they help people who have different kinds of disorders and diseases. But, to help as much as possible they need money, which they earn through flee-markets, fundraisers etc.

Another volunteer organisation in Ronneby that works against violence, drugs and bullying is “UNF”. UNF is an organisation in Sweden for teenagers and young adults between the ages 13 to 25. The organisation´s vision is ”a democratic and inclusive world free from drugs.”. The organisation is run by the members and together they arrange fun and drug free activities who everyone is invited to – not only members. They want to show teenagers that there are a lot of ways to have fun without involving alcohol or other dangerous drugs.  Around big holidays, where a lot of alcohol and other drugs is consumed, UNF usually arranges bigger events that their members and other teenagers can attend instead, of being at home with their alcoholic parents.  UNF is run by the members, they do everything in their spare time; after school or work. And they don’t get paid for arranging the activities, they all do it because they want to and because they think it’s fun. The money that the organisation earns goes to the activities the members arrange. Every summer, for 25 years, UNF in Ronneby had a camp at Aspan in Ronneby for Polish kids and teenagers who come from Katowice and Bytom. Most kids and teenagers that attend the camp come from a district in Bytom called Bobrek. Bobrek is one of the poorest districts in Poland. Their families are poor and some of the parents even have addiction to drugs and alcohol. The camp is two weeks long and completely free for the kids and teenagers. At Aspan a lot of them get what they don’t have at home; food several times a day, new clothes if necessary, hot water to shower in and their own bed to sleep in. For many it’s the first time seeing the ocean. At Aspan they can feel safe and be happy and only think about being kids/teenagers. Members of UNF are camp leaders and some of them are chosen to plan the whole camp.  

 

“Women’s Shelter” is a volunteer organisation that mainly works with helping and supporting abused and sexually assaulted women. The women can turn to Women’s Shelter for advice and support. Women can reach the organisation at any hour of the day by phone and there should always be someone that answers immediately. The woman can tell the organisation what has happened and the organisation can help the woman with what they can. The organisation helps women and children that live in destructive relationships. If the women only need someone to talk to they will be there to listen and talk to the victim, maybe help them get away from the home and give them a secret and temporary place to live in. Women’s Shelter is a voluntary work where seven people currently work full time in Ronneby, but there are a lot of people that volunteer at weekends. Everyone that works at the organisation are sworn to secrecy; they aren’t allowed to say anything about the women they help. In 2016 Women’s Shelter in Ronneby helped 200 women and children from destructive homes. Ronneby city think it´s important that everyone should live with good conditions and therefore the municipality of Ronneby and the state give the organisation money that goes to, for example, apartments so that there’s always a temporary home at hand if it should be needed. The apartments are secret and belong to the organisation.

In Ronneby we have two second-hand stores, “Lindra” and” Kupan”. Lindra is an organisation with several stores spread all over Sweden. The one in Ronneby opened in the summer of 2016. Kupan is run by the Red Cross, which has many other second-hand stores around the country, and the one in Ronneby has existed for several years. Both Lindra and Kupan have clothes, furniture, toys, all donated by those who do not want them anymore. So the stores are not buying from you, you give them things for free.

 

We think that the reason why so many people donate to second-hand stores is because you want to make a change. Because first of all, things are sold cheaply, meaning that a lot of people can buy things they would not be able to afford in regular stores, like clothes, presents for your children, something for your house, etc. Secondly, the money the store makes goes to charity, to provide medical aid or let more children go to school. What they have in common is that the money mostly goes to helping children around the globe. That is probably also a cause to why a lot of people donate to these stores, wanting everyone to grow up in a happy life and give everyone a bright future. We grow stronger by helping each other. It is possible to work as a volunteer in the stores. The reason why is probably like the ones mentioned before, but you also get some experience of working which can be good when you get a non-volunteering work in the future.

 

More than 20 000 sports clubs spread across Sweden give everyone, from small children to adults, the possibility to both have fun and make their dreams come true in fellowship with others. But all of that is dependent on people who volunteer to lead it. Around half of the adult population in the Swedish society do some kind of voluntary work and a big part of that half do voluntary work in the sports. A huge part of those who do voluntary work in sports clubs are parents of the children or youths that are members in the club. The parents can help in a lot of different ways; be the trainer of their sports team, lead the children through different activities or even sell hot dogs at their matches.Sports clubs in Ronneby often help out at festivals with organising parking spots for cars and help to control the traffic. The children and the youth of the sport club sometimes sell different things and the money goes to different stuff, like trips to different matches, or even to the Cancer Foundation or other similar foundations.

 

Several voluntary organisations in Ronneby are working with helping refugees. Most of the activities for refugees are run by the Red Cross together with the municipality of Ronneby, ABF (which is Sweden’s leading and oldest study association) and Save the children. At the second-hand store Kupan, the staff often and gladly answer the questions from the refugees and at some hours at the day there’s Arabic- and Kurdish-speaking staff in the store. Every Wednesday between 18:00 to 20:00 there’s a language-café where refugees can practise their Swedish and get help filling out various important documents. There is even volunteers who speak other languages than Swedish as their mother tongue, like Arabic, Kurdish, Dari and Persian. “Refugee-help Ronneby” is an organisation that helps and support refugees in the municipality of Ronneby. They give the refugees what they desperately need, like clothes, shoes, hygiene products etc. Refugee-help Ronneby has a facebook page where they post when there’s some things they need. People can then donate to the organisation so they can help them help the refugees. There are several fun activities in Ronneby for refugees that an organisation called Children in the centre, arranges. They arrange activities like chess tournaments, football and much more. And sometimes they just meet and eat food together and socialise. All children are welcome to their activities but they mainly focus on refugees. The main idea is to get the youths to meet new people of all cultures and to help them do meaningful activities in their sparetime.

 

One of the good sides of volunteering is that you get a whole new perspective on life. Something small for you can mean the world to someone else. You realise how unfair the world is; while some people have money to buy things and do things whenever they want, others struggle just to get clean water. Volunteering may also help you find out what kind of job you would like to have in the future. Meeting people while volunteering can help you make contacts, find jobs and will be a positive thing when you look for jobs, since it will show that you are engaged in what you do. It might also make you realise that maybe you want to have a job where you will help people. Working as a volunteer gives you the opportunity to meet new exciting people with different backgrounds and stories and because of that you can get inspired to keep on volunteering. And seeing other’s happiness will make you happy as well, and happiness is something we all want and are worth. The experience will give you a different perspective of life and hopefully make you realise how lucky you are and make you appreciate small things.

 

 Written by: Nora, My, Sanna, Livia,Viktoria

 

Volunteer work; a small cog in a big machine

 

(by Ola - Norway)

 

When I think of volunteer work, I do not think about big projects and charities. Because here in Norway most volunteer work is groups of people or communities that comes together to do something. That could be hosting an event or saving cost by building something though volunteer labour. Like in my town, the new artificial grass football field was build/made by the locals to save cost. One weekend people got together and put in some works, so that we now have a brand new football field. That for me is the Norwegian volunteer spirit. Local places get together to do something for the community.

 

So when it comes to what the volunteer get for volunteering it depends. Because in my example above. The towns folks get together and do something for the community that they live in. so they all benefit from the volunteering they are doing. But there is of course volunteer work were you get something out of it. In bigger Norwegian places, like Bergen, Oslo and Stavanger there are groups and organisations that do volunteer work. Where they give homeless people food and blankets to stay warm. And here all the people that volunteer get perhaps the good feeling of helping others. And I salute the people that take some of ther time to give some to other, and expect nothing in return. Except the feeling of kindness. 

 

And personally I think that volunteer work is not a thing that can or will be used to effect the job market. It may aid the job market. Like helping a local store with renovation ore soothing like that. But to directly affect the job market, I don’t think so. Volunteering is all about helping or aiding something or someone with their struggles. Without expecting much in return. But without it some people would struggle. So volunteer work is needed to make the world go round in a smooth way  

 

 

 

by Ola Ullebø

 

Volunteering at my homeplace

 

(by Viktoria – Norway)

 

Voluntary work creates change, it challenges and it makes a difference. The voluntary sector impacts and changes society through its activities, initiatives and by creating stronger communities. Voluntary work changes the people who are involved by expanding their competence and social capital.

 

 

 

Here in Høyanger we have many different voluntary work, like Red Cross, night ravens, an organisation that’s named sanitation and we also have “support people”. Night ravens is usually parents who walk around in the weekends at night time to see if the youth is okay and don’t do anything stupid. “Support people” are people who are volunteering to help either troubled youth, disabled people or old people. These things are really important for the society.

 

 

 

In my society our sports and music teams are build up by volunteering. Without volunteering we wouldn’t have the chance to travel places, or get any equipment. We wouldn’t have anyone who could coach us, or someone who could referee our games if we didn’t have volunteering. We volunteer so we, or someone else can achieve something or so we can help someone that needs help. It’s important that more people join volunteering programs, its also a good experience.

 

 

 

Volunteering is also good for people that need to socialize with people, or people that have much sparetime and wants to do something after their jobs. Youths that are studying often volunteer so they can get experience within what they want to work with when they get older and have education. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is volunteering worth it

 

(by Andrine Norway)

 

 

 

I see volunteering as very useful and at some points necessary for things to work out in the society. I am thinking especially of voluntary work as volunteers in a condominium, red cross and night ravens.

 

 

 

I personally participate in the Red cross in Høyanger as a volunteer in the local rescue service both during summer and winter. I have chosen to participate in this work as I see it as an extremely important job. To become a part of the rescue service I have taken classes to make me prepared for everything that may be expected of me.

 

 

 

Other kinds of volunteer work in Høyanger may be within recreational activities such as sports and music. These kinds of activities are based on volunteering. Without the volunteering from parents and participants, there would probably be no chance to have any kinds of activities like these, or the participants would have to pay for everything they needed at all time. Including someone to sell waffles at games.

 

 

 

During my three last years at school I have participated a lot in voluntary work where the income has gone to class trips to Scotland and England. In these kinds of voluntary work there is really no way you can not participate. If you want to take a part in the trip you have to work, or else the rest of the class will be pissed off as you are freeloader. So either you participate in the voluntary work that can lead to a good ambiance in the group and you get to be social with a feeling of being useful, or you may influence the group negatively or not have the chance to come with.