Expedition Newcomers: on to the next checkpoint!

On December 9th, the final meeting of our expedition ‘New Faces: Newcomers’ took place. Since October, several organizations have received tools to better recruit, deploy, and support newcomers within their organization. They have worked on an expedition plan to create more space for newcomers. Each organization has presented its plan to the others and received feedback.What motivates newcomers to do volunteer work and how can we increase this motivation? And what can hinder participation? What frictions stand in the way and how can we remove them? We have delved into this. Newcomers want to do volunteer work to practice the language, give back to society, meet new people, and work towards their future. Tarek, ambassador at VCA, shared his experience during the first meeting: he mentioned that volunteer work also helps combat social isolation and has a positive impact on mental well-being as people become more active and feel useful.

Brainstorming for solutions

But it is not always easy to find your place, there are obstacles: Stichting Present mentioned the language barrier and the stress of undertaking something new. Impuls indicated that working hours are often a barrier for women with children. In the meetings, the participants brainstormed together and came up with solutions. Stichting Present has developed a very concrete plan to recruit and involve 20 newcomers in their projects. It was emphasized that it is important to create an informal and accessible atmosphere in the beginning and to make the individuals feel at ease. Communication plays a crucial role; “what we communicate is not always clear to the other person even when we think it is, awareness and continuous communication are important in this regard”.

Beautiful experience

Yousri is a participation worker at Dynamo and has a different perspective on working with newcomers and involving volunteers, which was very educational for the other participants. He takes a broad look at the needs, motivation, and talents of the newcomer to then make a match with an activity, a support service, or volunteering. Dynamo sees new opportunities in collaborating with VCA and involving ambassadors with a refugee background. With Civic, we played a game that helps to discuss inclusion and diversity. This was a great experience: “I really enjoyed playing the game with colleagues and we will do it again in the new year to then create action points together”.

Useful and special

All participants found the expedition very educational and enjoyable to do. Where they were sometimes afraid beforehand that it would be too time-consuming, that feeling is different afterwards. “I received many useful tips and I found it special to connect with other organizations that are also working with newcomers.” “Thinking from a volunteer travel perspective is a great tool. I am using it immediately in my work.” They also found the input from the experts valuable and inspiring. Now on to the next stop: making these great plans concrete and implementing them!

This training is made possible by the Oranje Fonds, the VSB Fonds, and a contribution from the Asylum, Migration, and Integration Fund (AMIF).