50 Resident Committee officers from different neighbourhood communities in Beijing were trained by UNV and UNDP supported grassroot organization on community-based volunteer service for the elderly

29 June 2010

Beijing, China - On June 29, the Shijingshan District Gucheng Street Office and the Leling Elderly Care Organization kicked off the UNDP and UNV supported “Spring Shoots Programme”, which will develop their project providing services to elderly residents.

Leling is a grassroots community organization driven by volunteers with the mission to improve the quality of life for older people living in their community by creating an elderly care model which can work in the Chinese local context.

Although caring for the elderly is still a strong value in Chinese culture, with the ageing of Chinese society and young people not always available to take care of their parents, senior citizens face practical challenges in the daily life and are at risk of isolation. Support to the elderly has become one of the priority areas for the Beijing government in the last two years and volunteers are more and more often mobilized to offer assistance to this weaker segment of society.

The launch event introduced the Leling project work, promoting mutual help teams to support the elderly in their communities, and training was delivered to 50 local resident committee members focusing on the valuable role that volunteers can play in communities, in particular in providing services to older people, such as free blood pressure checks, support for elderly with physical impairment, recreational activities with dance, music and handicraft making.

Partnerships Coordinator UNV volunteer Fiammetta mancini commented: “The Leling staff was very good at giving an overview on community-based volunteerism with participatory methods, stimulating discussion and presenting some case study from other countries, and the participants were intereseted in how to effectively integrate volunteers into elderly care activities”.

The  ‘Strengthening Volunteerism for Development through the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ volunteer coach, Gillian Dale, with the help of a UNV volunteer, Wang Xiaolin, showed the video of an activity she carried out in England on the 2009 International Dance Day, where professional dance practitioners led groups of people in different locations dancing to the same song at the same time, to promote social inclusion in communities through dance, with a special attention to senior citizens’ participation.

“It is inspiring to see how this kind of activity can bring physical and spiritual benefit to old people and it would be nice if we could prepare a similar event with the help of community volunteers, connecting with other communities in Beijing and in the world through music on next year’s International Dance Day” said Ms. Liu, a participant to the training.

Officials from the Shijingshan District Social Workers Committee, District Bureau of Civil Affairs, District Office for the Elderly attended the launch ceremony. The “Spring Shoots Programme” under the  ‘Strengthening Volunteerism for Development through the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ is a volunteer project management capacity building programme to enhance volunteer projects in Beijing.  It includes training for volunteer project managers and volunteer leaders and a component of tailor-made coaching and small grant support for 3 selected Volunteerism for Development model projects, among which is Leling. Xiaolin and Gillian provide coaching and monitor on the best use of a small grant to strengthen Leling and allow it to grow in more communities.

A pilot was implemented by Leling in the Tianxiang community in 2008 to work with local volunteer leaders and build elderly care volunteer groups according to the specific situation of the neighbourhood residents. In this way, engagement in the life of the community has increased and the needs of senior citizens are now better addressed. Through a support net. A representative of the Tianxiang community shared her experience at the training encouraging other communities to replicate the activities under Leling’s guidance. Leling, now counting on the “Spring Shoots Programme” support, plans to set up elderly care volunteer teams in four more communities in the area.

“Around 20% of the population is above 60 years old in the Gucheng area and volunteers can be a driving force in improving the quality of life of this vulnerable group” said Mr. Wang, an official from the Gucheng local government.
The project ‘Strengthening Volunteerism for Development through the 2008 Beijing Olympics’ was launched in July 2007 as a partnership between between the Beijing Youth League, Beijing Volunteer Federation, China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges, United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Volunteers programme. The objective is to harness the ethusiasm towards volunteering boosted by the Beijing Olympics to promote volunteerism as an effective means towards development. One of the main components of the project is aimed at building the capacity of three volunteerism for development pilot projects, including the Leling Elderly Care Project.

Contact:
Fiammetta Mancini, Partnerships Coordinator
“Strengthening Volunteerism for Development through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games”
Office: 51601071-602/85320911-912
Fiammetta.mancini07@gmail.com