Claire Thomas’ dream has been realised and The English Volunteering Project now offers a place for people to find volunteering opportunities. We ask that if you run or are involved with a non-profit organisation and need volunteers, to please get in touch with her.

Finally, after a year of planning, work, fundraising and website development, The English Volunteering Project has been launched! English speakers who live in Sweden can now go to www.volontarbyran.org/english and find volunteering opportunities which can be done in English and other languages. There is also advice and information about volunteering in Sweden.

 It’s the first time that it has been possible for English speakers to easily find volunteering opportunities they can do in Sweden without having to speak Swedish.

The project launch was hosted wonderfully at the American Ambassador’s residence by the Deputy Chief of Mission William R. Stewart. We had a great time telling non-profit organisations and people interested in volunteering about the project, and enjoyed being in such nice surroundings. To see videos from the launch go to www.facebook.com/englishvolunteering

We expect the numbers of volunteering opportunities available to increase over time as more non-profit organisations hear about the new service. We are also hoping that as news of the project spreads there will be more opportunities available in other parts of Sweden. If there are no volunteering opportunities suitable for you just now then go to the ‘For Volunteers’ section and sign up to receive an email alert when suitable opportunities do become available (or have a look at the opportunities available in the Swedish section).

We are incredibly pleased that the project has got off the ground so successfully but we need more non-profit organisations to offer volunteering opportunities that can be done in English or other languages. If you or anyone you know are involved with a registered non-profit organisation which uses volunteers, (whether it’s a sports club, cultural group, campaigning group or any of the many other types of non-profit that exist) please do think about whether you can use people who don’t speak Swedish. It’s really easy and free to advertise for volunteers on Volontärbyrån’s website. Simply register your organisation first, then, when you register your volunteering opportunities tick the relevant box(es) depending on whether you want to advertise the opportunity in just English, just Swedish or both. If you have any questions contact us using the details on the website.

We think volunteering is a great way to get involved with Swedish society and make a real difference, and we look forward to making it possible for many more people to become volunteers.

Article: Claire Thomas

Photo Credit:  DLR/Thilo Kranz