Volunteers from northern Bavaria celebrate the start in Nuremberg

The hall on the ground floor of the Eckstein house in the middle of Nuremberg’s old town is full: around 140 young people meet here to start their voluntary service. “I find it totally exciting,” says 18-year-old Friederike from Eggenfelden. “The last time I was in a room with so many young people, none of whom I knew, was a long time ago.” She completed her voluntary service with the Protestant student community in Regensburg.

Volunteers with and without a school leaving certificate are at the start

In addition to Friederike, there are 139 other people here who would like to do something social voluntarily. At the big welcome day at Haus Eckstein in Nuremberg, they all come together for the first time in the history of the Voluntary Social Services of Northern Bavaria (FSD). “The number of young people who decide to do voluntary work has remained fairly stable in recent years,” says Fabian Meissner, head of the FSD Northern Bavaria. “We are now much more diverse, we all have school qualifications, we have young people without a school qualification, we have young people from abroad.”

A year to learn

Meissner has been there since 2011. In the past, it was mostly young women who had to register for a voluntary year in daycare, youth welfare or old people’s homes. It was the same with Friederike. After graduating from high school, it was clear to the 18-year-olds that volunteering was a good opportunity to learn something new and to clarify for themselves where they wanted to go.

First training, then FSJ

The group of volunteers is now mixed. Julian from Weil in the Upper Palatinate has already completed training, but he didn’t really like it. “And then I came across the FSJ through friends,” he says. “I’ve always been interested in working with people and I think it’ll be helpful later on too.” He spends his social year in the area of ​​adult education and is happy with his choice.