Volunteering

Join the Girona Buddies volunteering WhatsApp group at https://chat.whatsapp.com/GRO8cijOS4xDBRv0CrqnhV.

This page is the page for the Volunteering group. For a list of volunteering opportunities in Girona for English-speakers, go to http://guidetogirona.com/Volunteering_in_Girona.

About the Volunteering group

The Girona Buddies volunteering group exists to connect people with volunteering opportunities in Girona and help organize volunteering activities. It's open to anyone interested in volunteering, including Catalan speakers and non-Catalan speakers.

Volunteering ideas

• Just an informal litter cleanup (Julia's idea). Take a bin bag and gloves. Ideas for places:
  • lake Park del Migdia when it’s drained
  • top of hill behind Vista Alegre
  • Parc del Migdia in general
  • Parc de la Devesa
  • Along the river behind Parc de la Devesa
• Help Voluntariat ambiental per la conservació de l’espinós a l’Espai Natural Protegit de les Gavarres / Associació La Sorellona https://voluntariatambiental.cat/activitat/voluntariat-ambiental-a-les-gavarres/, They pick up litter, sometimes they do it in Girona
• Community allotment/garden. Tessa wrote a wrote a proposal for the Ajuntament a few years ago and they offered her a free huerto (kitchen garden) in Santa Eugenia.
• Chatting Bench: Sitting in public spaces and offering conversation to lonely people (Kalpesh's idea)
• Spending time with elderly residents at retirement homes (although language might be a barrier).
• Helping homeless people by offering food, clothes, and conversation (inspired by a Barcelona initiative).
• Helping local businesses or entrepreneurs with skills like marketing, leadership, or fundraising.
• Volunteering at food waste programs (e.g., starting something similar to Olio, which is a an app for giving away food, books, clothes, and furniture, or lending things in your community for free)
• Animal shelters: Finding opportunities at animal shelters (walking dogs, assisting with care) like Rodamon (Palafrugell) and CAAS (Tossa).
• Help each other with problems we have (Stuart's idea)
• Create a Time bank in Girona Buddies (Paul's idea)
• Help at Temps de Flors festival. Email amicsdelesflorsdegirona@gmail.com.
• Graffiti removal (especially offensive ones) (Yvonne's idea)
• Promote positive stories through a “Humans of Girona” social media page (Kalpesh's idea)
• Get fit by doing good - run, walk, and cycle to help people with tasks. See "GoodGym (Get Fit Do Good)" (Sonia's idea)
• Tessa says her local WhatsApp neighbourhood group (fora de la muralla) always ask for help, as does Vista Alegre

Volunteering Resources

• Girona City Council Volunteering Platform: https://web.girona.cat/voluntariat/ciutadania/demandes Lists volunteering opportunities in Girona (However, most require Catalan).
• Sorrellona: A group that organizes volunteering activities and speaks English. Someone in the group previously volunteered with them.
• English on wheels: A cycling group where Catalan teenagers practice English with English-speaking foreigners https://www.resilis.org/tag/english-on-wheels/

Summary of the group's activity so far

🗓️ 14 January 2025

• Group "Volunteering in Girona" created by Paul at the request of Tom.
• Members start joining via the Girona Buddies community.
• Paul suggests litter picking as a simple volunteering idea.
• Tom supports the idea and suggests it as the group’s first activity.
• Evan mentions an existing local group doing clean-ups.
• Stuart shares links (e.g. FreeAdvenTour) and experiences.
• Bea stresses the importance of coordinating with existing efforts to avoid duplicating work.

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🗓️ 16–17 January 2025

• Paul contacts Alex from FreeAdvenTour; they did one clean-up but have no current plans.
• Bea shares links to Girona’s volunteering directories.
• Mariona (LvE Always Wins) shares a link to an environmental volunteering opportunity in Les Gavarres.
• New members continue to join.

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🗓️ 20 January – 10 February 2025

• Group becomes quiet.
• On 10 Feb, Paul removes the group from the Girona Buddies community due to inactivity.
• Mairi suggests keeping it for ad hoc activities.
• Paul agrees that there are limited options for non-Catalan speakers.
• He leaves the door open to reactivating the group.

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🗓️ 20–21 February 2025

• Julia proposes a DIY rubbish clean-up day at Park del Migdia and other areas.
• Bea and others suggest checking for pre-existing clean-up events.
• Stuart and Bea share links to groups like *XCN* and *voluntariatambiental.cat*.
• Spogomi clean-up competition in Girona is announced.
• Paul re-adds the group to the Girona Buddies community.
• A shared editable Google Doc of ideas is created.

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🗓️ 13–18 March 2025

• Tessa volunteers to help admin the group.
• Multiple new volunteering ideas shared:
  • Chatting benches for social connection
  • Helping language learners
  • Community gardening
  • Helping small businesses
  • Litter picking
• A poll is conducted; top ideas:
  • Litter picking
  • Community garden
• Mascha and Jamie suggest volunteering with animal shelters.
• Carrie asks about helping at *Temps de Flors*.
• Paul launches a wiki page for Girona Buddies: [gironabuddies.com/volunteering](https://gironabuddies.com/volunteering)
• Bea shares local equivalents to Olio (food-sharing app).

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🗓️ 19–21 March 2025

• New members continue joining.
• Julia updates on the Park del Migdia idea – suggests low-key clean-ups or joining existing groups.
• Kalpesh suggests starting a *Humans of Girona* project to spotlight positive actions.
• Some members prefer to avoid social media promotion.
• Stuart proposes donation-based events (e.g. beach day or cycling).
• Sonia shares ideas from a UK group that combines fitness and volunteering.
• Bea and others express interest in removing offensive graffiti.
• Stuart points to *Brigada Activista del Salabret* as a local group to join.
• Tessa suggests creating a poll to prioritize activities (more to come).
• Helen joins and expresses interest in getting involved.