12 March 2004

Greenock: A group of 16 young Millennium Volunteers from Inverclyde are celebrating their International Volunteering Project on 12 March. The celebration will take place in the McLean Museum, Greenock and will be attended by young people, local community representatives and local and national dignitaries.

On the evening the young people involved in the International project will be showcasing the work they have been doing over the last 6 months. This ranges from community events such as a family ceilidh to under 18s’ discos and sponsored cycles.

All the events the young people have organised have had a clear benefit to the community of Inverclyde. Also on the evening a video diary made by the young people for other young people showing the personal and social development of the 16 volunteers involved will be premiered. The video will be used as a peer education tool to encourage young people to volunteer. Finally on the evening the young people will perform a short play on volunteering in Inverclyde.

In recognition of the success of the International Volunteering Project, Mrs Liz Burns OBE, World President of International Association for Volunteering (IAVE) will be the guest speaker at the event. This is the first time that Mrs Burns has spoken at an event in Inverclyde and her speech will cover the role of young volunteers in an international context.

The International Volunteering project is a project of Millennium Volunteers in partnership with Youth Connections and has worked with 16 young people aged 14-17 from throughout Inverclyde. They have been working for 6 months as a team to work on their personal development while completing voluntary work in Inverclyde.

In Easter 2004 the group will go to Edmonton, Canada for 10 days on a volunteer exchange project and the young people have organised a series of fundraising events themselves to cover the cost of the project. When the young people go to Edmonton on the Community Volunteering Project they will get the opportunity to stay with a Canadian family and experience the “real” Canada. This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of these young people to experience living in another country and learn about new cultures and gain new skills and experiences.

Mark Molloy, Inverclyde MV Co-ordinator said, "The project is a great opportunity for young people to gain an international volunteering experience and for some of those young people involved it will potentially be a life changing experience".

The project was launched on CSV Make A Difference Day on 25 October 2003 when they renovated the play park at Lunderston Bay with the help of Ross Finnie MSP, Minister for Environment.

When the group go to Canada they will be participating in 5 different volunteering projects over the 10 days ranging from doing an arts and crafts session with a group of physically disabled people to a Scottish themed day within a high school.

Mark Molloy, Inverclyde MV Co-ordinator added, "The volunteering projects in Canada are very diverse and dynamic to allow the young people to gain as many new experiences as possible while working with a whole host of different people from a variety of different areas in Edmonton. All the projects have been organised by youthone, a web based youth project in Edmonton and the final programme is very exciting for everyone involved".