A pre-medical care training centre for youth: support and development

As part of the FUNdraiser project, a team from the city of Zhovti Vody in the Dnipropetrovsk region won the challenge and is now implementing its project, a training centre for pre-hospital care for young people. We had the chance to speak remotely with team captain Yevheniia Davletshyna to learn more about their goal, values, and the challenges on their path to success.

Yevheniia, a computer science teacher and the project leader, learned about FUNdraiser through a promotional mailing. The idea of learning to find funding for their initiatives on their own immediately appealed to her and to the team, which is made up of young teachers and high school students.

Answering the question about the team's goal, Yevheniia said: "Our work is aimed at strengthening young people's pre-hospital care capacity in emergency situations. We also aim to teach children and their parents to provide first psychological aid to stabilise emotional tension. We pay special attention to the "KoLeSo" and "Safe Space" programmes, which help build skills for acting in critical situations."

The project stands out for its integrated approach to supporting young people, as it combines training in pre-hospital and psychological care. The team takes the region's specific characteristics into account and works to raise young people's awareness and skills in health and psychology. To maximise its impact on the community, the team actively cooperates with local institutions.

To ensure the project's sustainability, the team has developed a long-term strategy, attracts a variety of funding sources, develops internal resources, and actively engages public support. They regularly conduct monitoring and evaluation, which allows them to adapt to change and keep the project sustainable. The team captain also shared a touching moment that happened during one of their meetings with potential sponsors. "We were holding a meeting in a café and talking about our idea. Unfortunately, the sponsor declined to support us. We were very upset and decided to return to our table to discuss what to do next," Yevheniia recounts. But the story did not end there. While the team sat at their table, two women who were sitting nearby came over. "It turned out that these women had been listening closely to our conversation with the potential sponsor. They decided our idea was worth supporting, and each of them contributed 5,000 hryvnias," Yevheniia recalls. With this money, the centre's first training aid was purchased.

We asked Yevheniia whether their project could be scaled to other communities. "Yes, spreading our initiative to other communities could help expand access to essential knowledge of pre-hospital care and psychological support for young people and contribute to their development and well-being. However, this would require thoughtful action and planning that takes into account the specifics of each individual community," the captain noted.

Taking part in the FUNdraiser project was an important experience for the team. They gained new knowledge and skills in organising events, and learned financial planning, the basics of marketing, and the principles of engaging sponsors. "The experience gained at FUNdraiser has already helped us create another project and implement it successfully. We learned to plan, organise, and manage projects effectively, which are important skills for any civic activity," Yevheniia shares. She advises other youth teams not to hesitate and to take part in similar initiatives. "FUNdraiser provides not only theoretical knowledge but also practical skills in creating and implementing projects, as well as ongoing support from specialists," the team captain says.

In Yevheniia's view, the future of fundraising in Ukraine looks very promising. "We see great potential for development and believe that our experience can inspire others to become active in civic life and implement their own projects," Yevheniia notes.

The project "Establishing a Training Centre for Pre-Hospital Care for Young People in Zhovti Vody" has an extremely important mission and is capable of creating tangible social impact in the community. The team and the project inspire with their humanity and their desire to help others, which is an important aspect of building a safer and more cohesive society.

The "Fundraising Challenge" project is implemented by the NGO "International Agency for Change" with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine and the financial support of the European Union, provided within the project "EU4Recovery, Empowering Communities in Ukraine".