For more than two months, the team of the Pryiutivka municipality, Kirovohrad Oblast, participated in the training programme “Steps for Specialists. Interaction of Local Self-Government Bodies and Volunteer Associations” offered by U-LEAD. The programme lasted from the end of May to the middle of July 2023 in the format of online events such as seminars, trainings, workshops and info sessions. For its implementation, U-LEAD partnered with the Ukrainian Voluntary Service, an NGO whose experts Anna Bondarenko and Olena Vuzka continuously worked with the participating municipalities.
Daria Ratushniak and Nataliia Lutsenko, Head and Resource Developer at the Culture and Leisure Centre in the Pryiutivka municipality, spoke about the benefits of training and the initiatives that were successfully implemented.
“With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, many IDPs came to our municipality. For a population of almost 12,000, there are now officially over 1,000 IDPs or, unofficially, over 2,000. From the first days, volunteers and activists had gathered at the Culture and Leisure Centre,” said Nataliia Lutsenko.
But after some time people started to noticeably burn out. We are talking about emotional, physical and financial burnout. The knowledge and recommendations that the participants received at the U-LEAD training events helped them to respond to the situation in time and prevent it from spiralling.
“We listened to the advice of experts and created a municipal volunteer road map and organised lists of volunteers, opinion leaders and activists. Firstly, it helps in communication, and secondly, we know each other, and we can extend mutual support and gratitude,” Daria Ratushniak continued.
According to her, after consulting with experts in the municipality, they conducted a study of the needs of volunteers and decided to organise another cell where people gathered and wove nets. Mastery of communication tools that help in the promotion of initiatives helped to achieve an important result: people rallied and got to work, held joint events and mobilised resources.
Participation in the training motivated them to seek grants and additional funds to unite the volunteers. This is how the idea of holding the #Nezlamni Summer Camp with the support of the Association of Public Initiatives of Ukraine was born.