The Douzelage Association in Chojna, in cooperation with the Secondary School Complex in Chojna, carried out a training course between 23rd and 27th June 2018 as part of the project "Volunteering as a way to deal with stress" (Erasmus+ Programme).

The project partners included organizations from Malta, Hungary, Turkey, and Romania. Twenty-one youth leaders participated in the project, acquiring skills to combat stress through volunteering, particularly in areas related to helping people with intellectual disabilities and in animal shelters.

Participants in the training course learned about the physical, emotional, and mental symptoms of stress, strategies for minimizing the negative impact of stress on health, and social comparison as a method for combating stress through engaging in helping others. Highlights of the program included study visits by project participants to the Social Welfare Home in Moryń, the Social Welfare Home in Chojna, the Municipal Kindergarten in Chojna, the animal shelter run by the Psijaciele Association, and a meeting with a volunteer from the Homeless Animal Shelter in Radysy.

The project beneficiaries would like to thank the representatives of the above-mentioned institutions and organizations for the opportunity to visit and learn about the specifics of their work.

One of the project results is a set of training materials (plik do pobrania), which can be used by civil society organisations interested in developing volunteering.