There were four volunteer centres involved into the VOLWEM Project (in Banska Bystrica, Košice, Nitra, and Prešov). Their role was to involve at least 15 unemployed people into volunteering. This part of the project was used for the validation of methodologies and tools produced within the partnership and consider it to be the most important source of inspiration and experience. Volunteer centres were key players for the work with unemployed volunteers. They were cooperating with all stakeholders: with unemployed volunteers, organizations involving volunteers, labour offices (job centres), and the university. 

During the project run, the involved volunteer centres (with the help of organizations working with volunteers) were working with more than 150 unemployed people, 96 of which were actually involved into volunteering activities. Thirty-three of these volunteers (34.38 %) were able to get a job during or after their participation in the project.

Volunteers were helping in 28 non-profit nongovernmental organizations active in various fields, e.g. at mothers´ centre, community centre, organizations providing social services, children and youth organizations, but also in cultural organizations such as a museum or a university library. Unemployed volunteers were involved into many activities – they provided help with administration, technical assistance, leisure time activities with children but also with seniors, disabled people, but also helped to drug-addicts. They have organized leisure time courses, creative workshops, participated in the creation of campaigns and projects, helped with the renovation of interior but also exterior of organizations, participated in the public money collections, were approaching sponsors and donors, helped children with homework, and participated in many other activities for the benefit of the organizations they were active in. 

Based on the analysis of competence questionnaires and online tool D-zručnosti pre zamestnanie we can state that volunteering created for unemployed people a space for the development of specific skills, knowledge, and attitudes and thus contributed to the development of their employability.

 

Overall evaluation of the development of individual groups of competences documented through the questionnaires points out to the fact that volunteering activities created space especially for the development of competences related to problem solving and communication competences. 

 

Existing empirical findings and specific practical experience in the area of work with unemployed volunteers proves that volunteering can be one of the tools for the support of employability and employment of these people. To reach such a situation we need two conditions: on one hand the development of specific programs focused on the involvement of unemployed people into volunteering that are based on their real needs and on the other hand the improvement in the area of recognition of the volunteering experience on the labour market.