In 2023, our Volunteer Swap programme offered the record number of 48 opportunities for volunteers to join their colleagues abroad and participate in events and social activities.
9 JOIN members welcomed volunteers to provide first aid at major events such as the Berlin Marathon, the Athletics Championships and the EuroPride, but also to join local teams in social care activities like assisting in Day Care Centres for mentally challenged people, in Summer Camps or homeless kitchens and shelters. In 2023 our Dutch member joined the programme and offered 2 opportunities for volunteers to join their organised and assisted vacation for groups of older people in the Netherlands. 9 Swaps ran throughout the year, offering the volunteers more flexibility and a different way to experience the hosting organisation and its activities. The Medical Student Exchange in Jerusalem is a unique, constant and flexible ‘Swap’ that welcomes students for a practical short-term placement in the St John Eye Hospital.
For the first time in the history of the Volunteer Swap programme, a Swap for young people was organised between our English and German members. After careful planning by the Volunteering & Youth Working Group, JOIN enabled 11 English and 13 German young people and their supervisors to travel and experience each other’s areas of activity and learn from each other.
Another record was set with the participation of 113 volunteers from 4 countries who took the opportunity to participate in the Volunteer Swap programme:
- 35 volunteer of St John Ambulance
- 28 volunteers of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe Germany
- 26 volunteers of Joannici Dzieło Pomocy
- 24 volunteers of Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe Austria
