Popis organizace:

The Emergency Response and Rescue Corps (ERRC) is a voluntary, charitable and not for profit organization based in Gozo, Malta. It was created with the aim of preventing and alleviating human suffering, improving the situation of the most vulnerable people with absolute impartiality and without any discrimination as to gender, nationality, religion, race, class, religious or political beliefs. Its purpose is to protect and preserve human life and to ensure respect for the human being as well as empowering volunteers for the service of the community. The ERRC provides its services to the general public and does not really have a single target group with which it works, rather we aim to assist all members of society. Its vision is to be an effective, high profile and dynamic humanitarian organisation, that is sensitive to the human needs of the most vulnerable communities whoever and wherever they are.The organization operates in the humanitarian field, namely the provision of first aid and ambulance service, lifeguarding and health and safety training, disaster response, civil protection etc. It also provides assistance to government established departments (as per statute) and entities. In addition to this, ERRC offers water rescue service at popular beaches around Gozo and Comino during the summer months and ambulance services and first aid posts during public events. ERRC also has a youth section known as the ‘Cadets’ which plays a very important role in all the activities in which ERRC is involved. In promoting our aim of preventing and alleviating human suffering, we also offer educational training to the public on several topics, such as first aid for instance. In a nutshell, the objectives of ERRC are:• To act as auxiliary to the Maltese government, civil protection authorities and health department in terms of health and civil protection matters;• To assist the Armed Forces of Malta with the running of specialised rescue programs for its Corps;• To assist the Malta Police Force with the running of specialised rescue programmes for its personnel;• To assist the Malta Police Force and the Armed Forces of Malta in providing relief services or any other services for irregular immigrants provided that these services are not in conflict with the mission and purpose of the organization;• To closely cooperate with the Civil Protection Department and Public Authorities involved in the management of disastrous situations, regardless of their nature;• To carry out health and welfare programmes for the benefit of particularly vulnerable groups, always promoting responsible co-participation with other organizations and the population at large;• To promote and contribute towards environmental protection and preservation;• To co-operate with other organisations that share similar aims as ours;• To show a constant readiness to provide assistance and a universal sense of solidarity to all those in need of its protection and assistance.As can be seen from the activities detailed above we can offer numerous interesting informal learning experiences for our volunteers, who will be learning while exploring potential career paths that interest them. In engaging within the training activities and events we organise, volunteers will also learn important employability skills. Currently, ERRC relies on the contribution provided by a considerable number of volunteers(75) , including volunteers participating in EVS projects. Our volunteers come form various walks of life, some being doctors, teachers, students, mechanics etc. We usually request volunteers to stay with us for the maximum time period allowed (i.e. 12 months), in order to contribute as much as possible to their personal growth and to allow them to reap the most benefit from their volunteering period with us. we have a system in place in which seniour volunteers shadow and act as mentor to new commers.