The aim of the volunteer mentoring programs is to support positive changes in children in a difficult life situation, to help these children overcome difficult life periods and offer them an opportunity for a better future.

The volunteer center implements 2 main mentoring programs:

- Five P's (operating since 2000, 260 couples have already joined)

- KOMPAS@ (429 children have gone through the program since 2004)

The programs are based on cooperation between the volunteer and the child. The intention is to create friendly relationships with one "little" and one "big" friend who is the child's guide. Among the important "outputs" of this friendship are positive changes in children, e.g. in the area of ​​truancy, improved relationships with peers, the ability to express their feelings, be interested in new things, higher self-confidence, better ability to make decisions, etc. We also consider the satisfaction of volunteers to be desired outputs and children, free time spent with pleasant experiences, establishing new friendships, being accepted into a team, finding a new meaning in life, learning new skills, a new hobby or a new person who was able to enrich someone else's life or simply cheer them up.

The programs also manage to activate society - it involves people of different ages who become active volunteers in the community.

Those interested in the role of a volunteer must attend the training organized by the program coordinators and the training lecturer. Volunteers interested in the Five P's also undergo psychological diagnosis outside of training. Before the involvement of volunteers and families in the programs, several meetings are held with the program coordinator, during which all parties get to know each other and set the rules of cooperation. The coordinator listens to the wishes and needs not only of the family, but also of the volunteer. During the time when the volunteer meets the child, the coordinator takes care of both parties so that everyone involved feels comfortable and that the meeting is mutually beneficial. The coordinator maintains regular contact with the family and the volunteer. In the Five P program, a volunteer meets with a child once a week for 1-2 hours, for a minimum of 1 year. In the KOMPAS program, 2 volunteers meet with 6-7 children, once a week for 2 hours, for 5 months. The content of the meetings is devised by the volunteers and the children together.

Community care plan ORP Ústecko

https://www .usti-nad-labem.cz/files/cz/uredni-portal/obcan/socialni-oblast/7-kpp_2023-2026.pdf

We see great sense in both programs. They have their place in prevention as well as in activating people to get involved.

Sometimes friendship and listening, searching for talents and awards are enough... so that a smaller or bigger boy or girl does not have to go to specialists, to therapy or to worry alone. Even if some results can be seen years later, every child who went through the program became healthier, happier and enjoyed coming to us for at least the duration of the program. The nicest feedback for us has always been and still is a child's smile or a volunteer who talks about what volunteering gave him and what he gained.

Relationship is important. Relationship between child and volunteer, relationship between volunteer and family, relationship between volunteer and coordinator, relationship between family and coordinator. If these relationships are well established and communication works, then it is much easier to fulfill the set goals and needs of all parties involved.

Risk of a lower number of applicants for the volunteer role. War situation in Ukraine - volunteers may prefer helping Ukraine over Mentoring programs.

The main events in recent years that fundamentally affected the course of Mentoring programs was the Covid19 pandemic. Various measures made it impossible to carry out activities, whether in the KOMPAS program, the Five Ps, tutoring or meeting for board games.

At the beginning of each collaboration with a new family, we fill in the so-called initial evaluation questionnaire, in which we find out whether the child has problems in behavior, in school, in social adaptation, in personal competences, or if he has somatic or personal problems. When meeting the volunteer with the child, the volunteer also focuses on the problems that the family mentions in the questionnaire and together they try to improve them.

At the end of each collaboration together with the family and now also with the volunteer, we fill out the same questionnaire so that we can compare any positive or negative changes in the child's behavior and expression.

At the end of the cooperation, the volunteer also fills out an evaluation questionnaire, where we ask him, among other things, whether his communication and social skills have improved or deteriorated.

YES - we continue to implement programs and look for new families and volunteers.

We also plan to cooperate with other organizations within our region and support them in the implementation of one of the programs.

We regularly inform on the social networks Facebook and Instagram. We also write about the progress of the mentoring programs in the Annual Report of the Volunteer Center. We also publish press releases on the websites of our organization (www.dcul.cz) and the Regional Volunteer Center for the Ústí Region (www.dobrovolnictvi-usteckykraj.cz). We regularly offer our promotional materials to the general public and place them on the premises of Jan Evangelista Purkyně University. Leaflets were created for those interested in mentoring programs - volunteers and families with children. We also advertise in the local press - the monthly magazines Uličník and Enter.

YT videos: Be in be a volunteer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =vDaoG0O_cvE ENTER22 Youth Club - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppywwsEBWQ4