2.3. Outreach to partner

Objectives

1. Contact your partner to arrange for the 1st meeting!

2. Plan and carry out the 1st meeting in Term 3 to connect with your target group and other stakeholders.

3. Set the date(s) with your partner for actual project (end of Term 4 or year-end school holidays).

4. Plan and carry out the project in Term 4 (after exams) or during the year-end school holidays.

5. Refine the proposal plan (if necessary).

Note: If the proposal plan is refined, update the plan you had deposited into your CCA sub-folder in the CCA VIA Sharing Folder.

Safe Distancing Guidelines for Outreach & Volunteering

The following activities will be allowed, subjected to prevailing circumstances:

1. We strongly advise all CCAS to check out the Safe Management Measures (SMM) guidelines of beneficiaries and organisations before planning.

2. Execution of VIA activities can be done Face to Face over at the organisation with the following guidelines in place:

- Ensuring safety measurement in place (e.g wearing of face masks, wipe down of areas used).

- Approval from the beneficiaries/VWOs to conduct the project Face to Face. Eunoians will have to abide by the Safe Management Measures of both the beneficiaries/VWOs.

Thus, Eunoians are to bear in mind the organisations’ considerations, needs and concern in the planning of the VIA activities, as well as fulfilling the needs of EJC SMM guidelines.

Upon approval of the proposal by your CCA teacher, you can start planning the outreach programme to connect with the:

Your target group (e.g. children)
Key stakeholders (e.g. contact person, other staff members of the partner organization, and parents/family members)
Other related groups (e.g. other volunteers)

This outreach is important as it helps you and your CCA members develop (i) empathy to the challenges faced by the target group and other stakeholders. It also helps to build (ii) conviction to your project. Additionally, you and your CCA members acquire (iii) confidence as you interact with the members from the various groups.

From the perspective of target group and the various key stakeholders, it provides them a (iv) sense of assurance through familiarity with you and your CCA members.

Furthermore, the outreach event helps you and your VIA committee members to identify any (v) training needs of your CCA members, as well as any gaps in your proposal that need to be plugged.

In the subsequent outreach events, the additional aim is to acquire a deeper understanding of the (vi) needs of the target group and the challenges of the various key stakeholders through deeper level of engagement.

VIA project of the EJC Floorball Team (2017-2018) The outreach events by the Floorball members helped to create a sense of confidence among the Eunoians and a sense of assurance in the children, and in the various stakeholders (e.g. staff and volunteers) of the “Gift of Reading” team, Taman Jurong Community Centre.

Here is a (non-exhaustive) list of possible questions to consider during the outreach events.

Engagement

Is my VIA committee members and the rest of the CCA members comfortable interacting with the stakeholders and target group and vice-versa?
How can I help to improve the comfort level or/and level of engagement between the various groups?
Are there any gaps in the knowledge or/and skills in my CCA members (e.g. pertaining to the target group) that need to be plugged before the implementation date?
Do I have any warm up activities or snacks to engage my target group if they turn up early, or if they show signs of disengagement?
In the event of online interaction due to SMM measures, how can i ensure that my event is still an engaging one?

Support

Are the funds from school and my partner sufficient to pay for various aspects (e.g. materials and equipment etc) of the VIA project?
Is the ratio of facilitators to target group individuals appropriate or do I need additional facilitators?
What if some of my CCA members are unable to turn up on the actual day?
Are the logistical support sufficient (e.g. manpower, transportation of individuals, equipment, etc).
Is the venue/ platform ie Zoom, Google Meet on the day of implementation able to accommodate the activities and total number of individuals that would be present safely?
For Face to Face Interaction, in the event of an accident or injury, do I know what to do (e.g. administering first aid, contacting stakeholders, etc)?

Activities

Are the planned activities interesting, appropriate and safe for my target group?
Are my CCA members able to carry out the planned activities effectively and safely or do they need additional support from other groups / further training or rehearsals?
For Face to Face VIA, do I need backup for the planned activities (e.g. wet weather plans)?
For Virtual VIA, do i need to plan in advance to ensure that the beneficeries are ready for the session?