After a fantastic summer filled with some tentative steps back to normality after a hard year and a half, the Volunteer The Hague team is back and excited for autumn! Part of that excitement comes from organizing our first event of the season - our popular "Mix & Match" Volunteer Job Fair & Networking Event! Though this event will be on Zoom for our participants, we're excited to finally be able to bring the event to you from our office for the first time since the pandemic began.

As always, this event will be attended by other local expats and internationals with whom to network, as well as some amazing nonprofit organizations that are eager to work with internationals! These organizations serve wide variety of areas, including animal care, human rights, social justice, refugee and migrant assistance, homelessness, elderly care, child care, the environment, and so much more. So there is something for everyone, no matter your background or specialization!

We're also thrilled to have this event be included as part of The Hague International Centre's CONNECT Welcome Month - a three week series of webinars and events designed to help expats successfully ease into life in The Hague! Each week, they will walk you through one of the three crucial milestones of your immigration process from before you move, to when you arrive, to settling-in. As you might have already guessed, "Mix & Match" Volunteer Job Fair is part of the settling-in week. Have a look at thier event series, check out the schedule, and learn how to register!

To start off this event, we'll have trainer and mental health ambassador Vassia Sarantopoulou of AntiLoneliness on hand to talk to us about how to cope with change. Why change is so hard? Why do we postpone changes that we know could be beneficial to our lives? Most of us have struggled with this issue at some point, and this can be even more challenging for those of us living in a foreign country. Join us as Vassia gives us some perspective on necessary steps to facilitate positive change in our lives!

We hope you'll join us on 14 October for this fantastic learning and networking opportunity! Space is limited, so please be sure to register ASAP. Looking forward to seeing you there!

About the Presenter

Vassia Sarantopoulou AntiLoneliness

Vassia Sarantopoulou is Head Psychologist and proud founder of AntiLoneliness, a company offering mental health services in The Netherlands. She is also a Trainer, Perfectionism Expert, and a Mental Health Ambassador promoting Inner Peace, Mental Health Awareness, and Healthy Relationships with ourselves and others. She is trained in (Group) Schema Therapy and Emotionally Focused Therapy, among other approaches (CBT, ACT, CFT), and is a member of the NIP (Dutch Institute for Psychologists), ICEEFT, and ISST. Through AntiLoneliness and her team of psychologists, she offers individual, couple, or group sessions to those who struggle with anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, burnout, loneliness, relationship issues, transition/change, and expat life.

After many years of offering workshops to individuals, institutes, universities, and organizations, she recently started AntiLoneliness Academy, a platform with Psychoeducational Workshops for everyone, including mental health professionals.

You can contact Vassia at info@antiloneliness.com or follow AntiLoneliness on social media for practical tips on Mental Health and Emotional Well-Being: Facebook - Instagram - YouTube - LinkedIn

Registered Organizations

If you are a representative of a non-profit organization that is looking to share more about the work that you do (as well as register prospective volunteers on the spot at the event!), please join us by registering here.

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.

Zebra Welzijn – A foundation that supports inhabits in the Hague to participate in society and offers various volunteer activities.

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.

Buurthuis Mandelaplein – A multicultural community center based in Transvaal, The Hague.

Kessler Stichting – A homeless care organization serving The Hague and the surrounding region.

Wegelaergroep – A scouting organization for young people with disabilities, ages 9 to 30.

Wijkvereniging Benoordenhout – A neighborhood association supporting the interests of residents and the local environment in the Benoordenhout district of The Hague.

Zuid-Hollands Dambond (ZHDB) – A local gaming organization (for games such as checkers) offering practice and competitions.

Stichting KledingBank Den Haag – A local clothing bank that helps purchase and/or provide clothing for the needy.

Center for Culture and Development – A Dutch Culture and Development foundation focusing on culture preservation for sustainabilty development and culture for peace, justice, diplomacy and conflict resolution.

Ga Den Haag – A group of four foundations focused on tours and group packages with enthusiastic volunteers showing the best from The Hague.

Mine Mark Foundation – A mine risk education (MRE) project aiming to protect children from harm by landmines, cluster ammunition, and explosive remnants of war in conflict zones.

WoonZorgcentra Haaglanden (WZH) – A care organization dedicated to providing guidance in the case of dementia, physical disorders and NAH.

Xtra – An umbrella organization of six organizations in the Haaglanden region, Xtra enables knowledge exchange and innovation.

Chikara Cambodia – A foundation that combines education and enviromental projects in Cambodia.

Stichting Schets – A volunteers organization to help the neighborhood with talent development, education, meet & greet, community building.

KiCulture – A foundation working towards introducing sustainability practices within art and culture sectors.

Muzee Scheveningen – A history and culture museum of the fishermans village Scheveningen.

International Friends of the Mauritshuis – A project that organizes specially events: lectures, expeditions, tours and workshops - for the international community of English speakers in and around The Hague.

Humanitas Zoetermeer Vriendschappelijk Huisbezoek ouderen – A nonprofit association which aims to support people who, for a range of different reasons, temporarily can not manage on their own.

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.

Stichting Aquarius – A foundation aiming to move the 6th Internationale Jeugd Film Festival (Int. Youth Film Festival) from Rotterdam to The Hague.