Youth Centre Hrastnik

Youth Centre Hrastnik is a non-profit organisation established seven years ago. In that time we have successfully integrated into the local community. With our work we wish to provide young people and young by heart a focal point for their leisure activities and self-growth. With informal education we offer a space where they can hone their abilities, skills and competences in order to ease the transition into responsibilities of adult life and to provide better chances on the job market. With our activities we try to promote social inclusion and solidarity amongst youth and enable them to enhance their competences. Our youth centre has three employees, one external collaborator and two on regular basis also two EVS volunteers from different countries. Workers responsible for programmes of the Youth Centre are skilled youth workers with a broad range of knowledge and interests such as law, history, music, languages and philosophy. We have good communication and organisation skills, are imaginative and we tackle questions such as self-sufficiency, personal growth and coexistence with nature. In the local community we cooperate with a wide spectrum of different organisations from different fields – youth, culture, sport and employment. We are partners of a multi – day cultural festival Rdeči revirji, where different musicians, actors and other performance artists gather from the whole Slovenia and abroad. We are also partners of a summer festival Štuor- a festival with many different music and sport events for young people. We also co-host a local event Veter v laseh, s športom proti drogi (Wind in the hair, with sports against drugs) that aims at raising awareness among the youth about the different kind of addictions with the help of sport. A part of our mission is also achieving a cooperation among different generations and with that an intergenerational learning which is why the elderly are always welcome in our centre. In the time before Christmas we also organise a Christmas fair where young creators and craftsmen from all over Slovenia have the opportunity to present their products. Our office is located right in the centre of Hrastnik in a building that used to belong to the local coal mine. Our multi-purpose hall has a small stage and a bar and can be used for concerts as well as workshops and other activities. Our smaller classroom can host workshops and courses. Many of the young people as well as others spend their time in our centre where through language courses, rhetoric and journalism workshops and mountaineering courses strengthen their informal knowledge. At artistic workshops such as sculpting, drawing, jewellery making and sewing, young people can discover their crafting skills and craft unique products. With that we offer young people a wide range of options to enhance their competences and skills. For primary school children we offer also holiday workshops where they can explore their creativity in a fun and safe environment. Twice a week we also provide an option for recreation. Youth Centre Hrastnik provides an option to do Zumba and Water aerobics. In our aim to keep the public informed about all the activities that we offer we run a web page, a Facebook page as well as a number of local Facebok portals. A need for providing wider information about the life in our local community was recognized so we have designed a local magazine Hrastov list that is delivered to every household in the municipality. The magazine also offers a chance to grow competences for the youth since the whole paper is written, edited, designed and proofread by young people. Everyone wishing to get a better understanding of the Youth Centre's activities, can drop by for a cup of coffee or just a chat during our office hours, which is every day from 9.00 to 20.00, and add his or her ideas to our work.