Successful Mix & Match Volunteer Job Fair draws nearly 400 attendees and more than 30 organisations

On the 6th of October, Volunteer The Hague held its semi-annual Mix & Match Volunteer Job Fair at The Humanity Hub. The event brought together local residents and various non-profit organisations to connect internationals with volunteer opportunities in the community. The Mix & Match fair featured over 35 organisations, all focusing on a variety of fields and interests, including human rights, social justice, elderly care, animal and environmental causes, and so much more. Each organisation had a booth where they could share information about their mission and the types of volunteer work available. The event attracted more than 150 visitors from The Hague region. Many of the attendees were interested in volunteering for the first time, while others were looking for new opportunities. We were honoured to have Jan van Zanen, the mayor of The Hague, open the event with a welcome address to the international community. International volunteers often have a great deal of knowledge and expertise to make a significant contribution to society, said Jan van Zanen. The mayor highlighted the contribution of voluntary work to the strength of the city and thanked those willing to volunteer. Besides the booths representing local non-profits, there were two workshops for the attendees willing to make a career transition or find new opportunities. Elena Mellara gave a presentation on how to use use volunteering and internships as leverage for job success, followed by free one-on-one CV advice power meetings. Another highlight of the event was the presentation on how volunteering can sharpen your current skills and impact your professional life by Tetyana Benzeroual, Project Lead of Volunteer The Hague. Feedback The October edition of the Mix & Match Volunteer Job Fair was a great success, with many participants expressing gratitude for the chance to come together and make a positive impact on their community. The event showcased the many ways that volunteering can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience for people of all ages and walks of life. It goes without saying that the Mix & Match Fair was also a fantastic opportunity to meet other expats and share experiences and tips about living in The Hague region. All in all, 92% of the attendees rated the event as “Very Good” and “Good”, and 69% reported that they intend to make use of the information they received at the event immediately. Some testimonials “There was a great amount of diversity in what was being offered, it did feel like there was something for everyone” “Very well-organised and inspiring” “I appreciated the enthusiasm of the people working and volunteering for the organizations represented” Save the date The next edition of the Mix & Match Volunteer Job Fair will take place on the 13th of May at The Social Hub. We look forward to welcoming you there!

 Thursday, 19 May was a very special day for us at Volunteer The Hague: After two long years of pandemic restrictions, a sense of normalcy has finally returned to our lives, and in part to celebrate this, we were thrilled to finally be able to hold an in-person event again as part of our continued mission to serve our local expat and international community! The event was held at The Hague Humanity Hub's fantastic events space, which was a perfect venue for our attendees to mix and mingle with other local internationals, as well as with representatives from nearly 30 local NGOs and service organizations in attendance! These organizations serve a wide range of interests, including organizations devoted to the enforcement of human rights, refugee and migrant support, arts and culture promotion, animal care, multiculturalism, and elderly and child care. (A full list of the organizations in attendance may be found at the end of this article.) And with over 100 attendees joining us, the event was a huge success! Our attendees spent their time during the three-hour event checking out the various tables set up by the representatives of the organizations in attendance. The reps spoke about their organizations' missions, current activities, and the benefits they offer their volunteers, and our attendees were able to ask questions and exchange contact information. It was a thrill to see everyone's enthusiasm for getting involved and bettering the local community. It was also great to see so many fantastic connections being made between attendees as well, and we hope this was the beginning of new friendships and support systems for each other! We also had several speakers as part of our program. Gerko Viseé from The Hague International Centre gave an insightful and informative talk about the current state of the local job market, while VTH's very own project manager, Tetyana Benzoural, spoke about the benefits that volunteering can offer in terms of career goals and personal fulfillment. And to start off the event, we had PEP Director Fenna Noordermeer on hand to speak about PEP, VTH's mission within PEP, and how everyone has a valuable and unique role to play in volunteering activities in The Hague. Finally, VTH volunteers Gabriel and Reem were on hand to have a short conversation with Tetyana about their experience volunteering at various organizations in The Hague. The key takeaways from this: Volunteering is a great way to meet new friends and professional connections, beef up your current job skills, and gain brand new job skills for those looking to change careers. And according to them, volunteering has also been a great way for them to get to know The Hague itself - the types of organizations that operate in the city, community goals, and even local culture and language! We want to send our heartfelt thanks to Gerko for offering his insight and advice to support our community; to volunteers Gabriel and Reem for answering questions on stage; and to all of the attendees and organizations in attendance for making this a fun event where new friends and connections could be made. And a special thank you goes to the fantastic event volunteers who stepped up to help make this event a success! We very much look forward to offering more in-person events in the future! Organizations in Attendance: ACCESS - A foundation that relies on its English-speaking international and Dutch volunteers who enjoy helping others adjust to life in the Netherlands. AFS Nederland - an international, non-governmental, non-profit organization that provides cross-cultural learning opportunities to impart knowledge, skills and understanding for a better and more peaceful world. Arm Of Love International - A non-profit dedicated to Making Change Possible and Sustainable for all by educating, protecting, and supporting children and other disadvantaged groups in developing countries. Centre for African Justice, Peace and Human Rights - a foundation devoted to promoting justice, peace and human rights through education, awareness, campaign, training, outreach (Legal / Medical) and capacity building in Africa. CoderDojo Den Haag - a free, open and local programming club for young people. Het Koorenhuis - a creative and cultural hotspot located in the center of The Hague in a monumental building with a rich history dating back to the 17th century. Mammarosa The Hague - a non-profit that supports women who are being treated for breast cancer and gives information about early detection in the Netherlands. Middin - a foundation dedicated to helping people with brain damage while helping them with their daily needs. NL Cares - a volunteer pooling organization focussing on flexible volunteer work through social events, online volunteer agenda en corporate impact programs. Ocan - a 36 years old foundation committed to improving the position and advocacy of the Caribbean Dutch and related groups. Popradar Den Haag - the former Haags Pop Centrum, is an organization that provides a lively and diverse pop scene in The Hague. Positive News Foundation - a young foundation that connects uplifting news articles with people looking for positive news. Present Den Haag - a non-profit specialized in collaboration with all the professional welfare and mental healthcare organizations of The Hague and surroundings. Reach & Teach - a foundation that aims to assist the integration of newcomers (status holders, asylum seekers, and migrants) in The Hague region by offering Dutch and English classes, buddy systems, and social events. Saúde da Floresta - a foundation dedicated to helping the indigenous Amazone people of Brasil. The Hague International Centre a point of contact for international staff of organizations and companies in The Hague region. The Hungry Mind - a volunteer-run community centre for internationally-minded people. Together International - a foundation with the mission to design and implement solidarity projects addressing the socio-economic situation that emerged from the Covid-19 international humanitarian crisis. Vereniging Humanitas Home-Start - a project that offers support, practical help and friendship to parents by trained volunteers with parenting experience. Vier het Leven - a foundation that helps to realize life-changing events for the elderly. Vitalis - a foundation that matches a young person in need to an adult volunteer, to form a caring interaction that will promote the positive development of the young person. VTV Thuismaatjes - an organization that supports people with disabilities to participate in daily life activities, such as walks, sports, going to the movies and having positive social contact with others. Wijkz - a welfare organization for the residents of the Hague, to inform them about activities, voluntary jobs, support in the neighborhood and give practical help where needed. Wool for Warmth - a non-profit dedicated to collecting wool and organizing knitting groups that knit for the homeless. WWF - active in more than 100 countries and on 6 continents, this foundation does everything it can to protect and restore nature.

 This past Thursday, VTH once again held our popular Mix & Match Networking Event & Volunteer Job Fair - our first event after the summer holidays! This was a bit of a special "hybrid" event for us, as it was the first time since the start of the pandemic that the VTH team was back in the office together. It was so wonderful to run an event from PEP headquarters and be around one another again! And practically, running the event from a centralized location (as opposed to our own kitchen tables) was very convenient for us. In addition to the VTH team, we were joined virtually by representatives from 12 local non-profits and NGOs (whose names and descriptions can be found at the end of this post), as well as over 160 attendees! For two hours, our attendees mixed and mingled with each other and with the organizational representatives in Zoom breakout rooms - and from what we saw, many positive and fruitful connections were made! To start off the event, our fantastic speaker (and longtime friend of VTH) Vassia Sarantopoulou of the mental health support organization AntiLoneliness was on hand to give a short presentation on how to cope with constant change in our lives. Considering everything that's happened in the world over the last 18 months, this is both a timely and necessary topic. We will definitely hold more networking events and workshops in the future, so please stay tuned for more announcements. But for those of you unable to attend this event last Thursday, here is a quick summary of the important points from Vassia's presentation. We hope you'll find them as helpful to your own personal journeys as we have! Strategies for Coping with Life Changes Vassia started off her presentation by walking us through the different types of changes we experience in life: transitions and losses, of course, but also changes that we ourselves initiate, such as new habits. It's these types of changes that Vassia focused on during her presentation - self-initiated change for the better. Strangely, our brains have a bias against change because they prefer patterns and stability; they even resist positive changes! But this resistance is normal; uncertainty is registered in our brain as an error - as danger - because any change is a type of loss. But being prepared and framing change in terms of a win instead of a loss are key skills to learn in order to cope. According to psychology theory, there are stages of self-change: Pre-contemplation - where a person begins to think about change but has a bias towards resisting the change Contemplation - where a person begins to see the value of the upcoming change Preparation - finding the "why" of the change, preparing one's environment, and preparing one's mindsent Action - initiating the change itself Maintenance - keeping up the desired change going forward Maintenance is the toughest stage, but Vassia introduced strategies such as journaling, regular (re-)evaluation, and self-forgiveness as methods to keep up this maintenance. And, of course, rewarding oneself in order to keep up your motivation to sustain beneficial changes. Finally, Vassia made the very important point that consistent small changes are just as (and perhaps more) important than making huge changes in one's life. These changes tend to be easier to implement and have the potential to have the greatest rewards over time. We want to thank Vassia for attending our event and offering her insight and support to our community. We can't wait to hear from her again at a future event! Organizations in Attendance: Expatriate Archive Centre – A local historical organization whose mission is to preserve documents and materials related to local expat history. Stek - Den Haag Wereldhuis/The Hague World House – An information and advisory centre, with the aim of empowering undocumented migrants to make well-informed decisions. NL Cares – A volunteer pooling organization focussing on flexible volunteer work through social events, online volunteer agenda en corporate impact programs. Museon – A culture and science museum in The Hague for children and adults. Kessler Stichting – A homeless care organization serving The Hague and the surrounding region. Ga Den Haag – A group of four foundations focused on tours and group packages with enthusiastic volunteers showing the best from The Hague. WoonZorgcentra Haaglanden (WZH) – A care organization dedicated to providing guidance in the case of dementia, physical disorders and NAH. Chikara Cambodia – A foundation that combines education and enviromental projects in Cambodia. Muzee Scheveningen – A history and culture museum of the fishermans village Scheveningen. Stichting tot behoud van de Historische Buitenplaats Ockenburgh – An organization that originated from a citizens' initiative, in which about 100 volunteers are actively divided over different groups and projects. Reach&Teach - A non-profit organization that offers free Dutch and English language courses, as well as provides workshops and events to help facilitate the integration process of newcomers within Dutch society. Centre for African Justice Peace and Human Rights - A foundation that engages in promoting justice, peace and human rights through education, awareness, campaign, training, outreach(Legal/Medical) and capacity building in Africa. Stichting Aquarius – A foundation aiming to move the 6th Internationale Jeugd Film Festival (Int. Youth Film Festival) from Rotterdam to The Hague.