1. February 2026 – 2028
Maribor, Slovenia

The EPEKA Association, so. p., has started implementing the operation From Experience to Support, which is carried out within the public call Development and Professionalisation of Non-Governmental Organisations and Volunteering 2025.

The operation will last 27 months and is focused on strengthening high-quality, well-organised and sustainable volunteering, as well as on providing better and more comprehensive support to volunteers.

At the EPEKA Association, so. p., we have been implementing volunteering programmes for many years. On the one hand, these programmes offer volunteers opportunities for personal development, additional education, and active engagement in a wide range of activities. On the other hand, through volunteering programmes we provide our final target groups with extended and enriched content, addressing the challenges they face while also responding to the needs identified together with them.

We place strong emphasis on identifying needs within the environments in which we operate. In doing so, we primarily rely on cooperation with vulnerable social groups. Through partnerships and research work, we identify needs and respond to them through the programmes we implement (for example, programmes specifically aimed at improving the situation of the Roma community and programmes focused on non-formal education). We often seek to respond to the identified needs of target groups and society at large in innovative ways (such as the initiatives Bademantl Day, Missdreves, and others). At the same time, we continuously invest in the professional development of our staff through various trainings and capacity-building activities, acquiring new knowledge and information that we actively integrate into our work. In this way, we respond effectively to the social needs we identify (for example, through the Housing Cooperative initiative, with which we aim to address one of the most critical gaps affecting young people). We operate with a socially critical perspective and continuously seek ways to meet identified needs as effectively as possible.

The operation From Experience to Support is financed by the Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic of Slovenia within the public call Development and Professionalisation of Non-Governmental Organisations and Volunteering 2025.