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THE EUROPEAN NETWORK OF
OLDER-VOLUNTEER ORGANISATIONS
Actively promoting volunteering by older people across Europe
FOUNDING MEMBERS
Espace 3A, based in France, was formed in 2000 by various retirement institutions within the Reunica group: CRICA, ANEP, and REUNICA PREVOYANCE. These three institutions share the financing necessary for its operation. Espace 3A comprises three sections:
- The club section, which has almost 1500 members and which organises various types of activities such as visits to museums, travel, physical activities, and conferences.
- The employment section, which each year enrols between 200 to 300 unemployed people to allow them to find alternative employment, by means of group workshops and lively individual discussions with volunteers and paid experts.
- The voluntary section, which is responsible for 110 volunteers who undertake visits to the homes of lonely people often requiring help (1200 in 2005) and to residential homes (1210 in 2005).
The Retired and Senior Volunteer Programme (RSVP), was created in 1988 by Community Service Volunteers, the UK’s largest volunteer engagement agency. RSVP now has over 11,000 members engaged in voluntary work across England, Scotland and Wales.
RSVP’s mission is to provide opportunities to people over 50 to volunteer, by means of volunteering to provide services to communities, and to promote the benefits of volunteering to retired people across the UK. RSVP believes everyone has something to offer and rejects nobody. There is no upper age limit.
A small staff supports 500 volunteer organisers who develop and manage activities in their localities. Volunteers do many kinds of work. They help in schools and running after-school clubs. They befriend frail older people and provide transport for older and disabled people and carers. They promote healthy walking, eating and exercise across communities. They knit blankets, trauma teddies and other goods for premature babies, the emergency services, and people in deprivation internationally. Others act as heritage guides, develop wild flower sites and carry out other environmental work. There are many others — too many to mention.