Volunteers for workshops with vulnerable refugees at Zealand asylum centres

WeTalk is a conversation concept for young people and adults with a refugee and migrant background who experience mental challenges and dissatisfaction in everyday life. In the Red Cross and the Youth Red Cross, we experience that many people with a refugee and migrant background are characterized by temporariness, uncertainty about their future, increasing involvement of residence permits, and that some fall outside the existing communities, which are often about employment-oriented activities or building up skills. Many people with a refugee background also live with a great loss of the life and relatives they left behind, but which still take a lot of their mental energy.

The purpose of WeTalk is to create a space for conversation about the important mental themes that can often be challenging to deal with such as stress, uncertainty, worries, grief and loss of family, friends and life circumstances. In WeTalk, you go through tools and conversations as a group, which support the participants in helping each other to understand their situation and to test options for action.

We are looking for volunteers who can run WeTalk courses for residents of the asylum centers Sjælsmark, Avnstrup or Ellebæk . As a volunteer, you must have the courage and desire to facilitate a safe and trusting conversation space, where the participants have the opportunity to normalize difficult feelings and create a new community with others.

As a volunteer in WeTalk, you will be trained in the method's themes and in facilitating conversations for a vulnerable target group. You will also be trained for the role of volunteer facilitator and get to know the specific asylum center and target group. A WeTalk course consists of 6 sessions of 2 hours duration , where the participants work on topics such as problem and stress management, conflict understanding and the importance of social relationships.

In WeTalk, you are 3 volunteers who together plan and facilitate the sessions. During the process, you get sparring from employees and receive supervision from Red Cross psychologists, so we ensure that you as volunteers thrive. The course is a collaboration between the Red Cross and the Youth Red Cross.

Wishes for volunteers' professional and personal skills:

• You are good at creating a safe space where there is room for dialogue and conversation between people
• It is an advantage that you have experience with vulnerable target groups, especially with refugees
• You are empathetic, patient and appreciative in your approach to people
• You are able to take care of yourself, set limits and ask for help
• You can speak and write in Danish and English. If you can speak Arabic it is only an advantage.

We expect you as a volunteer to:

• Can run WeTalk courses at the asylum center Sjælsmark, Avnstrup or Ellebæk during the autumn-winter 2023/24.
• Participating in 1-day training in Copenhagen, as well as a follow-up meeting at the asylum center, where you will be dressed for the role as a volunteer in WeTalk (more information to follow)
• Will be available for supervision and sparring along the way.

Are you interested and want to hear more? Then send us a few lines about yourself and your immediate motivation for volunteering in WeTalk. We will then contact you for an interview.