On July 29th, 2022, the Centre for European Volunteering organised in Brussels an event focused on the Volpris project, funded by the Erasmus Plus Programme which saw the participation of over 40 participants.

The event had the objective of disseminating the work done within the project and increasing the Volpris Community.

CI was happy to attend this event and support the cause of this project. Based on our strategic plan, volunteering and more specifically promotion of e-volunteering is with high priority. Exploring potential of digitalisation for promotion of volunteering is what we discussed also with CERV and other organisations during this event. 

VolPris is what we consider good practice project, and we are happy to be able to promote it across our platforms. 

To know more about project and its outcomes, see text under.

VOLUNTEERING IN PRISON: THE NEW MODEL OF THE VOLPRIS PROJECT 
Giulia Bordin, Policy and Communication officer, Centre for European Volunteering 
 
Having seen the potential volunteers can bring in the prison, the Volpris partnership, composed by 8 organisations from 5 European Member States (Belgium, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Romania), aims to invest in the qualification of volunteering coordination in prison to have a positive impact upon volunteers’ effectiveness, and therefore on reoffending rates. 
 
Therefore the Volpris Project brings in the European discussion something that has become of increasing importance in our societies: the need of inclusion and of making the prison part of the societal milieu, and no more something exclusive which makes the reintegration process more a challenge than a second chance. 
The coming closer of the two realities into one is possible also thanks to the effort of many volunteers that everyday bring society in the prison and the prison in the society. Indeed volunteers represent the community side of the sentence to the offender, and help this often complex group keep emotional and physical ties which support successful (re)inclusion on release.
 
It has been underlined though that volunteers active in the Criminal Justice System, often lack proper support, knowledge and recognition and, consequently, of motivation. Volpris project outputs create an infrastructure where all these 4 aspects are covered, offering the possibility of those approaching the tools, to implement them at local, regional, national and European levels. By using these tools and with the support of other realities spread across Europe and internationally, part of the Volpris community, a structured, monitored and always up-to-date volunteering in prison infrastructure can be implemented at European level. That’s the goal of Volpris: valuing volunteering in prison as a crucial resource that must be properly supported and recognised.
 
The Volpris community is always looking for new participants bringing new ideas, experiences, practices that could be shared and implemented all across Europe.If you would like to join the Volpris Community and share your experience or learn from others’, register here!
 
Find more about the project here: http://volpris.eu