HELSINGBORGS KOMMUN

Helsingborg Contact Centre is the local citizen information centre for the municipality of Helsingborg, a large municipality providing services for 150.000 citizens and employing about 10.000 employees. Located in the city centre, citizens can contact us through chat, phone or email, or book a session for the specific advice they require. The Contact Centre provides a focal point connecting local government with citizens, local business, and civil society. We assist citizens with all matters regarding municipal services. As well as being the main municipal contact point, Helsingborg Contact Centre hosts a Europe Direct Information Centre, a Volunteer Centre, and offers expert advice to citizens on matters such as Energy and Climate, Consumer and Disability Rights, and Budget and Debt matters. Our Europe Direct Information Centre is one of Sweden's fifteen Europe Direct Information Centres. It works to connect the people of North West Skåne with Europe, engaging citizens in European affairs, through organising public events, discussions and lectures. One of the main goals of Europe Direct is to communicate European values to citizens, and raise awareness of the priorities of the EU Commission. A key target group is young people - we regularly visit secondary schools to inform about young people's opportunities in the EU, and encourage young people to join the European Solidarity Corps and connect with youth from around Europe. Since 2015, we also run a local Volunteer Centre, which facilitates volunteer placements for active citizens, and provides support for local civil society organisations in Helsingborg. Our Volunteer Centre facilitates volunteer placements for citizens in both municipal services and civil society organisations. We currently have a volunteer base of about 500 volunteers. As a volunteer you can run a language café, work as a tutor, accompany someone who suffers from loneliness, or help out at large public events and functions. Strong values and a wealth of experience in working with local volunteers are what we bring to the European Solidarity Corps. We cherish democracy and human rights, and understand the importance that a rich civil society plays in upholding these values. The Contact Centre holds a central position in the municipality. This means that we have a wide outreach to various sectors within the municipality, such as the Department of Education, Social Services, City Planning, the Department of Environment, Culture, Youth Services, and the Labour Market Department. Through this outreach, we are easily able to involve the other Departments when we require specialist knowledge or support. Helsingborg's vision for 2035 is to be a creative, vibrant, common, global and balanced city for people, organisations and companies. What our young people will gain through participating in the European Solidarity Corps will contribute to achieving this goal.