On July 17, 2022, the traveling educational seminar «B-SAFETY» was held for 50 participants of the RVC Volunteer Center. The seminar was made possible thanks to the support of BEARR small grants, for which our team is very grateful!

The main goal of the B-SAFETY project is to deepen and study the basics of safety in various areas in order to maintain the motivation of volunteers, prevent burnout, as well as their personal education.

The need to maintain security, personal boundaries, maintain motivation and prevent burnout has always existed in volunteer organizations, but has intensified during the pandemic and the crisis of helping refugees from Ukraine. Due to the fact that it was during periods of crisis that volunteering was most in demand, and there was not enough time for education and support of volunteers, the idea of ​​the B-SAFETY project for long-term volunteers of the Center and crisis volunteers appeared.

The retreat program was structured in such a way as to cover the most important topics that will help volunteers feel safe. They will teach you how to go through stressful and crisis situations, as well as manage your own burnout in volunteering. As part of the seminar, professional lecturers in various fields were involved, with the help of which the topic of security and self-care was fully disclosed.

Who were our lecturers?

• Semina-Gitsu Lyudmila, psychologist and business coach «Crisis Management», «Team Building»;Shpak Luminitsa, hematologist — «First Aid»;Liora Arnon — mentor of volunteer managers from Israel, who spoke on the topic: «Volunteering in a Crisis Situation»;Lukiyan Lyudmila nutritionist, therapist, sonologist: «How nutrition affects our activity and stress»;Alexander Kozlowski Trainer of Impact Academies & Camps gave a session: «Basic internet security tips and tricks».
• Semina-Gitsu Lyudmila, psychologist and business coach «Crisis Management», «Team Building»;
• Shpak Luminitsa, hematologist — «First Aid»;
• Liora Arnon — mentor of volunteer managers from Israel, who spoke on the topic: «Volunteering in a Crisis Situation»;
• Lukiyan Lyudmila nutritionist, therapist, sonologist: «How nutrition affects our activity and stress»;
• Alexander Kozlowski Trainer of Impact Academies & Camps gave a session: «Basic internet security tips and tricks».

In addition to the topics from our speakers, the seminar participants, namely volunteers from different areas of assistance, managed to get to know each other, communicate, exchange work experience and have a great time.

As part of the B-SAFETY seminar, we came to understand the importance of Internet security and password protection. Gained skills in spam and phishing detection. Together with a nutritionist, we got acquainted with the basics of proper nutrition and the functioning of the body, learned about the importance of nutrition under stress and compiling a food basket. Do not forget about the skills in managing yourself in a crisis situation, here we have drawn up an action plan to prevent burnout and maintain motivation for volunteering. And of course, we upgraded our skills in the field of first aid, as well as in the field of managing volunteers in a crisis.

We received excellent feedback from the participants of the seminar about the program and selected topics, about the speakers who covered the topic of security. Volunteers were motivated and satisfied with the knowledge gained!