European Voluntary Service

in Holešov, Czech Republic

The main building of the host organisation TYMY Centre

Learn For Life, Learn From Life

September 2018 – August 2019

General Information
The Leisure Time Centre (TYMY Centrum) located in Holešov, Czech Republic, is looking for
a volunteer to take part in a one-year-long voluntary service within a project called “Learn
For Life, Learn From Life 4”. The project will be focused on free time and extra-curricular
activities for children and youth (marginal focus on adults as well), public outdoor events
(e.g. the Children's Day, Day of Europe, Olympic Day Run, Welcoming summer holidays,
Music festivals, etc.), promotion of such activities and of other general issues (e.g.
volunteering, Erasmus+ programme) among youngsters, etc. The volunteer will spend one
year working in the Organisation: 10 months mostly on its premises in Holešov (over the
school year from September 2018 to June 2019) and 2 months at summer camps away
from Holešov (July and August 2019).
We offer you work with some very positive young mentors, pleasant and renovated
workplace, lots of opportunities in terms of your own activity, small town homey feeling
and much more!

General criteria
We are preferably looking for a volunteer who is:
– CREATIVE – This is important as many of the activities you will be involved in will
require a creative spirit and a spirit of initiative)
– COMMUNICATIVE – You have to be able to communicate with the staff, either orally or
by gestures, however active English is important, as well as your own will to learn the
Czech language. This project is not very suitable for too shy individuals because the active
communication with children (but not necessary by words) is essential during activities,
therefore you have to be willing to engage.
– RESPONSIBLE – This is obvious since you will be working with children most of the time
and should act as their role model. From the same reason we require certificate of clean
criminal record.
Further specific criteria
You should have SOME BASIC SKILLS in the area of sports, visual arts or music. You will be
involved in respective clubs/societies/lessons for children and youngsters (supervised by
full-time supervisors) and help out with activities.
You should also be interested in work with technologies and computers. You will be
expected to operate a camera during some events and subsequently make promotional
photo presentations, videos, short films, administer files with photos/videos and some
Internet accounts (Facebook, Youtube).

Application
If you would like to apply for this project, check these points before you do so:

1.) Send us your CV and your MOTIVATION LETTER, which should be partly based on
WHAT you find attractive about THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT and partly on WHY you think
you would benefit from volunteering in Holešov (or Czech Republic generally) and HOW
(half a page in English, in the format .doc/.docx or .pdf).

2.) In the name of the CV and ML files (whether in .doc or .pdf format) please include your
name and the abbreviation CV and ML right after that, for example like this:
Patrick_Jones_CV.doc, Patrick_Jones_ML.pdf

3.) To apply and/or request further information, send us an e-mail to

tymycentrumint@gmail.com

We are looking forward to receiving your application!

Transport information
Travel expenses of the volunteer for the journey from your home country to Holešov will be fully covered
from the project budget, but are limited to 135 EUR. Therefore you have to search for suitable and
convenient flights or other transport conection within this limit. If you exceed that amount, you will have to
pay the difference by yourselves. The same amount will then be available for your journey back home at the
end of your service in Aug/Sept 2019. This second amount will be paid only if the project will end as
planned, not in the case of premature termination.
You can ask your coordinators for help with the search of transport connection. It is recommended to choose
a flight either to Prague, Vienna or Bratislava and continue by bus or train. Holešov is directly accessible by
bus from directions Praha, Brno, Olomouc or Zlin. It is possible to travel to these bigger cities by bus or train.
In case of Praha as well by a plane. Train station Holešov is on the railway Brno-Ostrava or Praha-Bratislava
(with the change in Hulin).

Work conditions
Your activities will be held mostly on the premises of TYMY Centrum, namely between September 2018 and
June 2019. However, a part of them will be elsewhere (local as well as regional schools, clubs, public place
cultural hotspots, occasionally even remote places where accommodation is always provided). As for the last
2 months of your service, you will spend these mostly away at summer camps (regular ones in
cottages/hotels, but also a more adventurous one in the open nature). By that time you will have had
experience working with children and you will have known a lot of those children coming to the summer
camps, therefore it should be a nice finish to your service in Holešov. When it comes to your workload and
work hours, this differs according to seasons and parts of the week.
Volunteers are normally expected to work 6-8 hours/day during a working week (max. 35 hours per week in
total) plus a lunch and a coffee break, depending on the amount of work that needs to be done or on the
volunteer’s activities. Work is usually between 10/11am and 18/19pm. You will often be expected to work
at weekends and holidays (since that is the time when children are not at school at all and can devote their
time to activities which we offer). Depending on the weekend hours that you spend working, you will be
offered a day off during the following or previous week to compensate for the time. You will also be entitled
to 2 extra days off for every month to serve as vacation, which volunteers normally combine with weekends
and public holidays to be able to relax and travel.

All travel costs directly connected with the work for TYMY Centrum (bus to village school etc.) will be paid.

Accommodation
We had rented an one-room apartment with the kitchen and bathroom nearby TYMY Centrum. If the
volunteers need more privacy it is possible adjust part of the kitchen as the second room.

Food
Our volunteers usually preferred to cook for themselves, but during the school year it is possible to order the
lunch for reasonable price from nearby school kitchen. You will have around 6 euros/day (+/- 150 Czech
Crowns) for food which will be given to you from the project money, usually in monthly instalments (the
current exchange rate is about 26 CZK= 1 EUR). In addition to these food instalments you will receive €90
every month to serve as your pocket money. Both is normally paid in Czech crowns according to the current
exchange rate at the time.

Language support
There will be at least one person in the TYMY Centrum serving as the working coordinator which will
provide all necessary informations in English language. Therefore good English level is needed.
Volunteers are also expected to learn at least basic Czech during the project. This should be provided be on-
line courses but because we understand that Czech language and grammar is more diffucult than other
languages, a Czech-English teacher will be provided too, at least at the beginning of the project.

Others
It is strictly forbidden to smoke or drink the alcohol in the premises of TYMY Centrum and in the presence of
children during the outdoor activities. According to rental terms it is also forbidden to smoke inside the flat.
The following are some photos of the area where you will spend the year.
For photos of our Organisation and our activities just look up Tymycentrum on Facebook!

Holešov
 Kroměříž
(Capital of the district and a UNESCO town – 20 km away)
 Zlín
(Capital of the region with a more cosmopolitan life – 20 km away)
Other big cities close to Holešov:

Brno

Olomouc