ESC: PULSE of YOUTH - volunteering in Slovenia

The Salesian Youth Centre Rakovnik offers an open space for young people, a variety of programmes that address some of the key issues facing young people, and interest groups that bring young people together to spend their free time together in a productive way. It is during the period of youth that an individual's personality is most dynamically shaped. As we live in rapidly changing times, with different economic, social, societal and other factors, young people are also faced with different situations and are left to their own devices - often resulting in idleness and passivity. In our work and in the evaluation of our programmes, we are therefore increasingly finding that the problem of young people's active involvement in society is of the greatest importance to us. We find that the number of young people attending Our youth centre and our programmes are relatively large (both in relation to the number of staff and in comparison with other youth centres in Ljubljana and also more widely in Slovenia). To be concrete, this means 100-150 different young people every week; of which at least 50 young people at least 3 times a week. However, SMC's aim is not only to ensure the participation of young people, but also to offer them opportunities for various activities in which they can take initiatives themselves. It is necessary to promote the protagonism of young people, which is why we are increasingly focusing on the needs of young people and supporting them in their voluntary intention to be active for the common good of society. It is through volunteering that young people can best develop their potential in various fields, which is why we focus on mentoring volunteers and strengthening the value of volunteering. Through this, we also address the challenges of youth empowerment and healthy lifestyles and prevention of risky behaviours, as volunteering makes a mark on young people, through them (as shining examples), and on other young people - their friends. In this way, we reach as wide a range of young people as we can. The daily activities and all the programmes of SMC Rakovnik differ from other similar programmes run by similar youth organisations and associations in that they are based on Don Bosco's preventive education system, which places the emphasis on familiarity and the method of assistance of the youth worker, who has to get close to each visitor and become as much as possible their friend.

The SMC Rakovnik programme can be simplified into two complementary parts:

1. The daily openness of the youth centre (which means the club, the playroom and the outdoor playgrounds are open from 15.00 to 22.00 all day long).

2. The very different programmes of the youth centre in terms of their content. The objectives of SMC Rakovnik in a very concise form: 1. to provide young people with various opportunities to develop lifelong, employability and other competences; 2. promoting voluntary work and solidarity among young people;

3. increasing sport, recreation and cultural participation of young people;

4. creating opportunities for young people to form active citizens;

5. care for young people with fewer opportunities in society. Our target group is young people aged 6-30, with the most intensive work with young people aged 14-25. This is when young people need the most support and acceptance in a friendly environment. We work more individually with young people aged 25-30, according to their personal needs and difficulties (especially unemployment), and we also guide them outside our organisation to gain as much insight as possible into today's (fast-changing) society.