Belingual volunteers are parents of multilingual families who enhance the well-being of multilingual  families with under school-aged children by  making Belingual activities possible through volunteering.  Belingual volunteers can run language clubs in their home language or help with organizing the clubs, they can facilitate virtual reading circles, organise local events for families that speak the same  home language  or help develop Belingual Family Network activities by going the Family Network Steering Committee.

Recruiting Belingual Virtual Reading Group volunteers​
A virtual reading group is a group-based learning process, during which meet up every other week over Zoom to discuss a predetermined book.  Volunteers plan and run a virtual reading group every few weeks to children who speak their home language. We are happy to start groups in any minority language. Register for a two hour training by 29.5 here. 

For more on Belingual volunteer opportunities 

• Sign-up for Belingual Virtual Reading Club volunteer training

BElingual Language club Volunteer

If you can't find the activities you want for your children,  make then happen yourself! 

Belingual Language Clubs are family clubs in different minority languages for families with under school- aged children. Each club is led by a team of 3-4 volunteers, mainly parents of the children taking part in the club. Children always participate with their parents. The clubs take place every two weeks, lasting 2-hours each time. Families play, sing, do crafts and other fun activities together in their language.  

​Club volunteers are parents who want to give their children the opportunity to experience their home language and culture in a community and to meet other families who speak the same language. The clubs are guided by activities developed by experts, but each club can bring in their own culture and make it their own. 

BELINGUAL family network steering commitee member

By families, for families 

The Belingual Family Network Steering Committee is a group of parents of multilingual families who come together 2-4 times a year to help steer the direction of the Network. Together the help us develop the activities that the Network carries out,  how we communicate with families and help ensure that our activities are developed for families, with families.

If you are interested in joining the Steering Committee, get in touch with our Coordinator, Laura Hytti. 

other volunteer opportunities

We all have something to offer  our communities! ​

There are many ways to get involved for example:​

• Lead a virtual reading group for families across Finland in your home language​
• Organise an event for multilingual families in your area.  Get in touch with your ideas and we will help you get it set up! 
• Organise a workshop for families on your  language. 

If you have an idea that you think multilingual families with under school aged children might be interested in, get in touch with our Coordinator, Laura Hytti

 

ARE YOUR OUR NEW reading group VOLUNTEER? 

NEXT TRAINING Monday 30.5.22 at 18 -20.00. Register by 29.5.

WHO CAN BE A VIRTUAL READING GROUP VOLUNTEER?

• You're the parent or the carer of a child under the school age
• You're a parent of a carer who speaks a minority home language
• You want to give your child a chance to hear and read their minority home language
• You're willing to participate in a BElingual training and commit to running a group once every two or three weeks for at least one semester (i.e. 3 months)
• No prior experience is necessary, just motivation and interest in the activity

WHAT DO READING GROUP VOLUNTEERS DO?

• Participate in a 2-hour-long training
• Use Zoom
• Choose books along with the BElingual team and parents
• Plan and organize a 75-minute long virtual reading group once every two or three weeks and use approximately an hour preparing with BElingual instructions and materials

WHAT DO READING GROUP VOLUNTEERS GET?

• Training, skills and support in promoting children’s language and identity development in a safe environment
• Tools and methods developed by professionals
• A chance for your child to meet others speaking the same home language, and make friends through books
• Support for your child's sense of belonging
• The BElingual team takes care of:
  • The application for the virtual reading group
  • Marketing
  • Registration
  • Communicating with the participants
  • Any costs of the reading group (training etc.)

Sign-up for training

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ARE YOUR OUR NEW LANGUAGE CLUB VOLUNTEER? 

Next training is in August 2022.  If you want more information, get in touch: laura.hytti@familiary.fi 

 

WHO CAN BE A BELINGUAL CLUB VOLUTEER?

• You are the parent of a multilingual, under school-age child  and you want to create opportunities for your children to use your family minority language with other children and families
• OR you are a speaker of a minority language and your want to support  families in your community.
• You are able to commit to taking part in the Belingual Club Volunteer training  and to commit to arranging and leading club activities for at least one season ( spring/fall) with a team of  2-3 other volunteers. 
• You do  NOT need any previous experience facilitating children's clubs, just motivation and dedication. ​

WHAT DO CLUB VOLUNTEERS DO? 

• You take part in the Belingual training 
• You plan the club activities with your team  and coordinate with them to make sure there is always at least two parents responsible for each club meeting. Preparing for each club, every other week should take about half and hour to an hour. 
• Together with your team  or volunteers, you lead the a 2-hour club, every two weeks using the materials and guidance provided by the Belingual team. 

WHAT DO I GET OUT OF IT?

• You will give your child the opportunity to meet other families who speak your home language, and share your culture, make friends and strengthen their feeling of belonging. 
• Training , support and new skills for supporting your child's  language and identity development on a safe and fun environment
• Tools and materials developed by professionals
• The Belingual team will help with finding a club space, advertising, manage registrations and provide some funding to cover costs of materials

TRAINING STUCTURE

The training consists of three parts and takes a total of 8,5 hours to complete. There are several dates to choose from for each part. The training will be held in English and/or Finish according to participant needs. 

Part  1 : Introduction to the Belingual Model and your role as a club volunteer: A self-study video lecture and short assignment (approx 1,5 h to complete)
​
Part 2 : How to run a Belingual Language Club -Face to- face at Familia (5 h)

Part 3 : Planning workshop with your team via Zoom (1,5 h)

 The time and date will be agreed after training.
The total duration of the training is 9 hours. During the training you will also receive some of the materials needed for the clubs and meet your team of 3-4 other volunteers.

SIGN-UP 

There are no prerequisites to take part in the training, however, you will be required to complete the full training and your suitability to act as a Belingual Club Volunteer, will be assessed through out the training. 

training content

• Belingual Language club principles and structure
• Your role as a Belingual Club volunteer/facilitator
• How to create an inclusive, welcoming space for families
• Introduction to supporting multilingualism and children's identity development
• Practice in facilitating a club meeting and use the Belingual material provided
• Support for planning your club activities as a team​