The Association organizes cultural, educational, social, athletic volunteer activities. While it directs its activities for the most part to young persons, over the last few years it has focused on developing programs for older people by its young members. Y.M.C.A. Thessaloniki directs its efforts to social initiatives through the utilization of its volunteer network and through contact with local authorities.
Recreational Program: “Back in Time”
The grant regards the creation of a recreational program that will be presented by young artists to elders. The program will take place at various Open Protection Centers for the Elderly as well as nonprofit care homes in the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The recreational program will be developed with the valuable contributions of elders’ testimonies, so that these can be utilized in the performance. More specifically, the program will be an hour-long interactive program that will seek to enliven the memories of the elderly participants with the incorporation of elements from past theater and talent shows. In this way, seniors will have the opportunity to “travel” to past times and recall happy memories. The program is designed to promote the interaction of participants and actors in order to showcase the value that theater art can have in the psychosocial support of elderly persons. At the end of each performance the actors will hold a discussion with the audience which will be recorded. The goal of the video recordings is to create a digital archive with material from both the preparation and the actual performance in order for the program to be able to be used as research material for similar programs. It is estimated that more than 1,800 seniors will have the opportunity to participate in the program.
This grant is implemented through the Points of Support program I.
The Association organizes cultural, educational, social, athletic volunteer activities. While it directs its activities for the most part to young persons, over the last few years it has focused on developing programs for older people by its young members. Y.M.C.A. Thessaloniki directs its efforts to social initiatives through the utilization of its volunteer network and through contact with local authorities.
Recreational Program: “Back in Time”
The grant regards the creation of a recreational program that will be presented by young artists to elders. The program will take place at various Open Protection Centers for the Elderly as well as nonprofit care homes in the Municipality of Thessaloniki. The recreational program will be developed with the valuable contributions of elders’ testimonies, so that these can be utilized in the performance. More specifically, the program will be an hour-long interactive program that will seek to enliven the memories of the elderly participants with the incorporation of elements from past theater and talent shows. In this way, seniors will have the opportunity to “travel” to past times and recall happy memories. The program is designed to promote the interaction of participants and actors in order to showcase the value that theater art can have in the psychosocial support of elderly persons. At the end of each performance the actors will hold a discussion with the audience which will be recorded. The goal of the video recordings is to create a digital archive with material from both the preparation and the actual performance in order for the program to be able to be used as research material for similar programs. It is estimated that more than 1,800 seniors will have the opportunity to participate in the program.
This grant is implemented through the Points of Support program I.
