Commune Montferrand-du-Périgord

description of organisation

Montferrand-du-Périgord is part of a district (Communauté des Communes Bastides Dordogne Périgord: 48 Small towns and villages, 20 000 habitants). Within Erasmus+, it is also working in a group coordinated by the Francas24 based in Périgueux. Therefore the volunteers, hosted in Montferrand, will be involved in projects concerning the surrounding villages and in activities in Périgueux. the volunteers have the opportunity to meet and work with other young persons during the project. With only 170 inhabitants spread out in 37 "lieux-dits" (surrounding farms and hamlets), no shop, the population has few opportunities to meet in public spaces.
The municipality has hosted Erasmus volunteers for the last three years. More and more inhabitants became involved in the project. Now the village has the capacity to host two volunteers at the same time. This was proposed and even expected by the previous volunteers because for many activities being two young Europeans is a good help. On the other hand that number (two) should not be increased according to the previous volunteers as more volunteers leads to restrain the contacts with the local community. These remarks came from the participation of the national seminars organized by the National Agency (the volunteers share their experiences).
New young families arrived in Montferrand (two houses for low income family, and "néo ruraux"). The volunteers will meet more young persons who are ready to meet and help them.
To avoid remoteness and xenophobia, since 2014 one of the main objectives of the municipality is to enhance the social life, encouraging the associations to organize events for the inhabitants. The volunteers will be welcomed by these associations and involved in their activities to help these local helpers.
The village has a primary school : 20 students from 6 to 11 years old, coming from the surrounding villages.
The village offers a public library which is also a meeting point for tourism and social information, the volunteers will participate to its management. The languages used are mainly French and English (during summer).
In the district there are various sport clubs : the volunteers, according to their competences, will have the opportunity to join them either as a player (outside working hours) or as a trainer (during working hours).

Volunteering project