ESC: Volunteer in a youth centre - La Fouillouse

The « Comité UFCV de la Loire » is a non- profit organization affiliated to UFCV. The UFCV is a national public interest organization specialised in non-formal education. It is working toward improving life conditions to build a more united society. Based in Saint-Etienne, the « Comité UFCV de la Loire », also named CD42, represents the UFCV in the Loire department. Created in 1955, the organization is really involved in the local social life with more than 60 members affiliated. It has developed many actions towards local organizations and municipalities, supporting them in different fields (cultural and social animation, trainings for volunteers and educators, Early Childhood, children’s activity centres). Today, the CD42 is known through the Rhône-Alpes region to be the only sending, hosting and coordinating EVS organization in the Loire department. We also provide information and support with international mobility (including Youth Exchanges of the Erasmus+ program). The CD42 is part of the public interest organization RESACOOP (a non-profit organization that gathers international solidarity actors in a regional network). It is also part of the national technical committee of the Fonjep « JSI/VVSI » (Youth and International Solidarity) Scheme and it is a member of the national « Fonjep » group concerning Education to Global Citizenship positions. The CD42 is the coordinator of the L’MOJI network : this network aims to gather all the actors of the Loire department involved in youth international mobility ( As coordinator, the CD42 organizes meetings and working times with the actors of the network. It helps them on different fields: sharing partners networks, sharing tools, assisting them with grant applications and preparing young people to international mobility and intercultural exchanges. The CD42 owns its premises in the city-centre of Saint-Etienne: it is a stable and reliable organization with 7 employees. The CD42 has 62 members: 26 municipalities and 36 local organizations. The CD42 is divided in different sectors: the childhood and youth coordination, the handicap coordination, the senior coordination, the Education to Global Citizenship coordination and the international coordination. Marielle Labrandine is in charge of the handicap sector: as social worker, she is able to provide a quality expertise on this public. Several inclusion projects are being developed in the territory; we would like to create more transversality between our sectors to allow people with disabilities to access mobility projects. We have also participated in the last trainings provided by the European Agency about inclusion of people with disabilities in mobility projects. Jerôme May is in charge of the childhood and youth coordination: he is in relation with all the Childhood and Youth organizations we support in the department. Indeed, a lot of projects we are associated with are interesting for our volunteers, either regarding the local topics or either because the local projects could be enriched with an international contribution. Most of the time, these two aspects coexist and complement each other. This sector is an opportunity to diversify our volunteers’ experiences. It also participates in spreading the results and promote the EVS program as it includes publics, actors and organizations that are out of touch with the international sector and unaware of European mobility programs. Emma Sabatier coordinates the Education to Global Citizenship sector. This sector has strong links with the international mobility sector: the two coordinators are used to work on joint projects: their activities are complementary. They put in place several trainings for educators as part of our literary prize on Sustainable Development Goals. Education to Global Citizenship projects on different topics (gender equality, ecology, migrations, media…) have been implemented in various youth centres of our network. The usual Education to Global Citizenship topics we work on allow us to put young people in an international dynamic so that they can start to think to that international dimension before doing their mobility. The hosting of several European volunteers who take part in our Education to Global Citizenship projects illustrates the link between the two sectors (Education to Global Citizenship and International mobility). The international mobility sector is coordinated by Audrey Chave, ex European volunteer who went to Bulgaria with the CD42 in 2013. Once back, Audrey did a civil service with the CD42 to support volunteers in their mobility project. Then she validated a DEJEPS and was hired as employee in the organization.