The event was held in the format of three sections, in each of which a dialogue developed between leading social sector practitioners, leaders of volunteer associations and those who have just embarked or are thinking of embarking on the path of helping those in need – high school and university students.

Welcoming the guests and participants of the conference, the moderator of the event, director of the ANO for social adaptation of the elderly “Silver Age”, Yulia Maltseva, noted that the materials and presentations provided were a storehouse of useful, interesting knowledge that can and should be applied in the practice of volunteering.

A series of reports in the first section “I want to help. The beginning. Helping professions and volunteering”, aimed at guiding young people to master the profession of a social worker in educational institutions of St. Petersburg, was opened by a professor of the Department of Theory and Methodology of Adaptive Physical Culture, Lesgaft NSU, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor Elena Ladygina. She presented to the audience educational programs for training specialists in adaptive physical education to work with older people, developed at the university.

The specialist noted that when training specialists, the university pays great attention to practical work regarding the interaction of students with older people.

Maria Zagasheva, senior lecturer of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy, head of the Student Training Center of the St. Petersburg Institute of Culture, shared the reasons of and the ways to overcome the emotional burnout of volunteers.

The specialist defined emotional burnout as “loss of joy” in relation to any aspect of life.

“Burnout of volunteers, like the same of other workers, occurs due to high workload, the need to communicate with a large number of people, great responsibility, lack of control over the situation, lack of support and lack of time and resources for recovery,” she emphasized in her speech.

In order to prevent burnout, volunteers can take four steps: recognize responsibility for maintaining their good mood, develop the skill of monitoring the manifestations of burnout – bodily and emotional signals, identify factors that provoke burnout, and determine the balance of requirements and benefits of volunteering.

Presentations at this session were also made by Associate Professor of the Department of Psychology and Pedagogy of the St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture, Candidate of Psychological Sciences Lyudmila Podkolzina, Vice-Rector for Project Activities, Internal and External Communications, head of the Department of Theory and Technology of Social Work of St. Petersburg State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education St. Petersburg State Institute of Psychology and Social Work, Candidate of Pedagogic Sciences, Associate Professor Yulia Platonova, and lecturer of the Department of Medialogy and Literature, coordinator of the volunteer association of St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture “Postmen of Goodness” Alena Katina.

Second section of the conference: “Initiatives and projects. Achievements and Prospects” highlighted the work of volunteer associations in St. Petersburg and introduced the implemented and planned projects to the participants.

Talking about the “Happily Ever After” charity foundation for elderly people, its general director Anna Kosareva shared the problem of the lack of car volunteers and called on all concerned to consider charitable assistance.

The Maltese Canteen, one of the oldest humanitarian organizations in St. Petersburg, regularly faces a similar problem of lack of volunteers. Its director, Irina Tymkova, said that the canteen not only provides free food to those in need.

“Realizing that people come to us not only for dinner, but also for communication, we began to organize holidays with amateur performances. Sometimes volunteer hairdressers come to us to give haircuts to those who wish. Thanks to our donors, we have the opportunity to donate food packages to those in need. However, this requires volunteers who could deliver aid throughout the Tsentralny District of the city 2–3 hours a day,” said Irina Tymkova.

A presentation of charitable projects was made by the operating Director of the DobroDomik charitable foundation Galina Sinichkina, the Executive Director of the St. Petersburg regional branch of the All-Russian Public Movement “Volunteers of Victory” Aleksey Moiseev, the Deputy Director of the Interregional public organization of social support and protection of citizens “Jewish Charitable Center “Zabota-Hesed Abraham” Inna Semikina, curator of organizational events of the Volunteer movement “Old Age for Joy” Natalia Betekhtina, Director of the ANBO “Social Geriatric Center “Opeka” Tatiana Kolosova, and Director of the ANO “Time of Opportunities” Marina Butinova.

In the final block of the conference, a series of workshops aimed at developing personal qualities and “soft skills” was organized for participants. Head of the development directorate of the St. Petersburg Regional Branch of the All-Russian Public Movement “Volunteers of Victory” Vera Viktorova shared with the audience the basics of social design, expert on blogging for beginners Anastasia Flink presented a dictionary for a beginner blogger, 2nd year student of the library and information department, volunteer of the St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture association “Postmen of Goodness” Veronika Karacheva said what will happen if you stop being afraid, and a 4th year student, a member of the volunteer association of the North-Western State Medical University named after. I. I. Mechnikov Daniil Struchkov conducted a master-class on first aid.

The congress part of the conference is supported by the thematic exhibition “Volunteering of St. Petersburg”, which runs during all three days of the “Senior Generation” Forum on October 11–13.

The organizer of the event is the ANO SoBytie with the support of the Committee on Youth Policy and Interaction with Public Organizations.