Description of organisation

Středisko volného času, p.o. (Centre of Leisure Time), informally known as "TYMY Centrum", is an educational facility specializing in non-formal and leisure-based education in the town of Holešov, in the east of the Czech Republic. The organisation is part of a wide network of youth and after-school centres supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in Czech Republic. The mission of TYMY Centrum is to motivate, support and lead children, pupils, students, young people, but also adults, in developing their personality, acquiring and developing new skills set and competences under supervision of experienced educators, and teach them to spend their leisure time in a sensible way. We also firmly believe in developing launguage skills especially in english. We also bealive that volunteer brings different ideas and means to get children invested in.
The organisation plays an important social role in children's life as it contributes to prevention of risky behaviour (e.g. alcohol and drug abuse) by enabling children and young people to take part in inspiring leisure time activities in order to avoid boredom. The organisation also supports equal opportunities and is not selective - it admits applicants regardless of their ethnic or national origin, gender, religion, etc. Drawing upon this mission, the organisation's motto is "What we fill our children's heart with today, they will fill our world tomorrow." Since TYMY Centrum is an educational facility, the majority of its activities take place during the school year (September-June) and mostly in the afternoons and early evenings. As for the regular activities, it organizes various hobby clubs and lessons focusing on creative and performing arts, sports, languages, science, outdoor games, etc. All of these regular activities take place on a weekly basis (each takes 1-2 hours) with the same group of regular participants (who sing up at the beginning of the school year, but can also join later on) and they are supervised and led by our educators. Some of the clubs (e.g., dance clubs) even participate in local and nationals’ competitions where they get to demonstrate the skills that they learn and practise regularly, and compare and share with others. By the same token, TYMY Centrum also organises regular (yearly) and one-off large-scale public events. These range from talent shows, sporting events, folk balls, exhibitions to awareness-raising events such as Day of Europe, Day without cars, charity fund-raising, etc. It also provides supporting programme for children at events organised by communities and municipalities near Holešov, e.g. music festivals, funfairs, community events, etc. In July and August, TYMY organises thematic summer camps that take place either on its premises or in summer camp resort in the nature. These often work as digital detox retreats for children as they are not allowed to use their smartphones, tablets, laptops, etc. for the whole duration of the camps and, instead, they engage in socializing and character-building activities, trying to reconnect to nature, learn to communicate effectively, be respectful of others and help each other out. This is all achieved through games, contest, team projects and big dose of fun. Apart from its own activities, TYMY also facilities participation in national and international programmes aimed at the youth such as the Children's Parliament (a nationwide initiative striving to promote active citizenship and spark an interest in local community life and public affairs among children and the youth) or the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award (a worldwide personality development programme created by the British royal family with more than 60 years of history and tradition; it is aimed at young people aged 14-24 and its completion is recognised by many universities and employers all around the globe as a valid proof of personal achievements in non-formal learning) and, of course, Erasmus+.