The friendship that was conceived in the South of our vast country, in Sochi, during the World Festival of Youth and Students in October 2017, became a turning point for the partnership of Kazan Volunteers and one of the most northern region of Russia, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. The output of the volunteer congress of YaNAO Vertushka showed that the collaboration promises to be eventful and fruitful no matter the distance between the regions.

The YaNAO volunteers congress Vertushka of 2018 became the fifth event and celebrated its anniversary in a year of volunteers. General sessions and functional sessions such as "Cultural Volunteering", "Medical Volunteering", "Eco Volunteering", and "Events Volunteering" featured the programme. The participants also enjoyed team building games, sport activities and a concert.

After the official opening, more than 100 volunteers representing 13 municipalities of Yamal were given a presentation of two major upcoming events and their volunteer programmes — 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia^™ (City Volunteers programme of Kazan) and WorldSkills Kazan 2019. The most appealing for the volunteers was an invitation to join the events and become a part of them. Discussions are under way regarding internships for volunteers of Yamal at these and other events in Kazan to share the knowledge and experience in the field of the volunteer movement.

Organising and development of a volunteer movement in a single region, with an example of Tatarstan and Kazan Volunteers, was discussed at the "Events Volunteering" session, which brought together leaders of the local volunteer's groups. The agenda included topical issues such as volunteers related legal acts, a volunteer's code of ethics, account of their work activities via workbooks and computer systems, and specificities of volunteers training who will also help at one of the major events of the year — presidential elections of the Russian Federation.

We recall that creating strong noncommercial partnerships with members of the Russian Federation is one of the priorities for the Directorate for Sports and Social Projects. Official volunteers recruiting centers will be open in 15 region of Russia from February to March 2018. The series of the ceremonies will kick off in Novosibirsk, where a contract with the House of Youth of Novosibirsk Oblast will be signed on 27 February.

Press Office of WorldSkills Kazan 2019 Competition Organizer