100 Volunteers from Svobodny Acquired New Competencies Needed for Performing Good Deeds

9 april 2022

April 9 saw Svobodny host a Good Deeds’ Competencies Non-Forum. For one full day, the venue became a focal point for kindness, youth and energy, gathering in one place 100 volunteers from the city’s schools and colleges. The event was conducted with the support of SIBUR's social investment program, the Formula for Good Deeds. The project’s unspoken motto was "Live with a purpose!”

The participants of the Non-Forum were greeted by:

• Natalya Grushko, deputy head of Svobodny’s city administration in charge of social policy;
• Vitaly Bulygin, head of Svobodny’s Education Department;
• Andrey Zhukov, PhD in Biology, Associate Professor, Director of the Amur Institute of Railway Transport;
• Gleb Fedotov, Head of government relations and socio-economic projects at SIBUR LLC's Amur GPP.

The first part of the Non-Forum was dedicated to improving the volunteers’ personal skills. Darya Yenina, Ph.D. in Economics, Associate Professor at the Department of Economic Theory and Public Administration at Amur State University, and Deputy Chair of the Human Potential Development Commission of Amur Oblast’s Civic Chamber, delivered training on effective communication skills.

Nikita Shusharin, a preventive health care coordinator at Amur Oblast’s regional branch of Volunteer Health Workers, an All-Russian Public Movement, taught the participants appropriate methods of dealing with stress, whereas Darya Hlybova, Assistant Vice-Rector for Education of the Russian Federation Ministry of Health’s Amur State Medical Academy, Chair of Amur Oblast’s Youth Parliament, discussed the importance of developing emotional intelligence and suggested how one can learn to manage one’s emotions.

The lunch break time was used to deliver several master classes: the volunteers were invited to work together on building an Art Tower and to administer first aid to a specially designed mannequin.

The second part of Non-Forum was opened by Denis Blashchuk, Head of Information Services at Dom Radio (Radio House) Media Group, who taught the attendees how to properly interact with the media and to present their volunteering projects effectively. Darya Fadeyeva, lead expert at the Department of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs of Blagoveshchensk’s City Administration, made a presentation about the importance of time management and “the wheel of life”, while also sharing her list of useful literature with class participants. Natalya Volkova, deputy principal for education and discipline at Svobodny’s Gymnasium No. 9, delivered a speech that emphasized the need for volunteers to developing their creative thinking skills and then taught them how to do it using the format of a game.

The Non-Forum also featured its own Free TED Talks where corporate volunteers representing large companies that are members of the Amur Branch of the National Corporate Volunteering Council explained to the event’s attendees that being a volunteer is classy, and that there is a place for it in one’s adult life, too. Elena Kuzmenko, an expert from JSC NIPIGAZ and a supervisor of various corporate volunteering campaigns, shared her stories of how she and her colleagues had been aiding families experiencing difficulties in their lives and helping homeless animals in Svobodny.

Those in attendance were really impressed by a talk given by Grigory Chirey, an electric locomotive driver with Belogorsk’s Locomotive Operating Depot TChE-11 and coordinator of The Road of Kindness, Transbaikal Railways’ corporate volunteering project, who spoke about the nationwide campaign of mutual assistance #MyVmeste (We Are Together), and also showed his medal he was decorated with on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation as a vivid example of volunteer activities’ recognition.

The event’s participants had an opportunity to exchange their impressions giving high points to the forum’s speakers and expressing their appreciation for the practices presented and for the overall excellent organization of the event.