The Thessaloniki Volunteer Festival was successfully completed
The 3rd Connected We Stand Festival was successfully completed on Friday 23 & Saturday 24 September at the Thessaloniki City Hall and the Garden of Alexander the Great respectively. The Festival was visited by more than 30.000 visitors, with the participation of 85 civil society organisations and bodies, 300 representatives of institutions, 70 artists and 120 volunteers. The Connected We Stand was organized by CONNECT YOUR CITY, Amke IASIS, ESN Thessaloniki (ESN AUTH, ESN IHU, ESN UOM) ETHNOA, H.A.N.TH., InfinityGreece, Etairia Mental Health & Social Rehabilitation Society “E.M.Y.K.A.”, AddArt, Action Aid Hellas Youth, Fabric Republic.
During the Conference on Friday 20 September, the organizers, Michael Christakis, General Secretary of the Municipality of Nea Smyrni, President of the Board of Directors of the Panhellenic Association of General Secretaries of Local Government «KLISETHENIS», Nikolaos Baltas, General Director of AMKE IASIS, Ioannis Niklitsa, delivered an opening speech, Director General at Forum Training & Consulting, while we were honoured with the presence of Stelios Kympouropoulos, Member of the European Parliament (MEP, Greece), Konstantinos Tsouchoplidis, Head of the European Parliament in Greece, Sofia Voultepsi, Deputy Minister of Migration and Asylum, responsible for integration, Stavros Kalafatis, Deputy Minister of Interior, through speeches, greetings and statements, Zoe Rapti, Deputy Minister of State for Health, responsible for Mental Health, Maria Syringela, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, responsible for Demographic and Family Policy and Gender Equality, Christos Triandopoulos, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister, responsible for State Aid & Rehabilitation from Natural Disasters, Konstantinos Dervos, President of the Youth and Lifelong Learning Foundation, Konstantinos Zervas, Head of the Delegation of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece to the European Council of Municipalities and Regions & Mayor of Thessaloniki, Nikolaos Zeibekis, Deputy Mayor of Sports, Youth & Volunteerism of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and Michael Koupkas, Deputy Mayor of Finance of the Municipality of Thessaloniki and Michael Koupkas, Deputy Mayor of Finance of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.
During the Festival, adult education workshops on issues related to mental health, dealing with addictions, gender discrimination and environment, workshops for children, first aid and natural disaster management training, a live concert, reuse workshops, sports events by CHANTH and ETHNOA, awards ceremony, dance and theatre performances, comic book exhibition, interactive puzzles and photo exhibition were held.
For the 3rd consecutive year, the Connected We Stand awards were presented in the following categories:
‘Contribution to Society’, was awarded by Alexis Kavadatos, Scientific Officer of EPSYKA to the Greek Rescuers. The award was received by Charalambos Aslanidis.
‘Volunteerism & Selfless Contribution’, was awarded by Stavros Savvaidis, Founder of AddArt, to His Eminence Archimandrite Athenagoras. The award was received by Stavros Youvannis.
‘Action for Climate’, was awarded by Paraskevi Redaki, President of ESN IHU to the Crisis Management Team. The award was received by Anna Marintsiou.
’Promotion of the Sports Idea', was awarded by Yannis Harhantis, Founder of InfinityGreece to the National Olympic Academy. The award was received by Denise Panagopoulou.
‘Honorary distinction for the support & contribution to the 1st Thessaloniki Volunteer Festival’, was awarded by Yuli Vrochidou, Member of the Board of Directors of CHANTH & President of the Action and Social Contribution Committee to Konstantinos Zervas, Mayor of Thessaloniki.
‘Honorary distinction in the framework of the Connected We Stand Festival’, was awarded by Vangelis Hatzigiannakis, President of ESN Greece to Nikos Zeibeki, Deputy Mayor of Sports, Youth and Volunteerism of the Municipality of Thessaloniki.
’Honorary distinction for his endless contribution and work for Local Authorities and the promotion of the vision of partnerships with Civil Society«, was awarded by Evita Agapitou, Evitvita Agavitou, Head of Strategic Planning, Amke IASIS & Elektra Spyrou, Head of Social Service, Amke IASIS to Michalis Christakis, President of the Board of Directors of the Panhellenic Association of Local Government Secretaries General »Kleishthenis".
Every year the International Day of Peace Festival is dedicated to a cause. The purpose of this year's Festival, initiated by All Together We Can and the Ukrainian Embassy in Greece, was to collect essentials for children victims of war in Ukraine. Thanks to your contribution, the items will be given to those children in need in families from Ukraine living in Thessaloniki.
The organizers would like to express their warmest thanks to AMUSE for undertaking the production and participating as a major sponsor. At the same time, we would like to thank Gnomon Informatics s.a., RECYCOM, EGIN - Hellenic-German Youth Foundation, LENOVO and TGI Friday's. We would like to thank Veluda Water Filters, which participated as a water supply sponsor, Pizza Fan, which provided meals for the volunteers, Nurse At Home, which provided the First Aid Station, OTRC Group and About Net for the offer
digital services. We thank Mediterranean College for participating as an educational partner and as part of the Festival one participant will receive 1 full scholarship.
We also thank the artists who participated and honored us with their presence, among them Katia Tarabanko and Margaritis Kechagias, who presented the Festival, George D. Claydee, Anastasia, ASPA, Konstantinos Frantzis, Ermogenis Skitinis, Frau Dimitra, COYOT, Maria Stefanou Vocal and Musical Theatre Studio, Eleni Palia, the artistic groups of CHANTH and Petros Triantafyllou.
Finally, we would like to thank the following organisations for their participation:
P.E.PS.Y.k.KA, DIOTIMA, Save Your Hood, Arcturus, Greek Eco Project, Action for Wildlife, SDSN, Peruvolarians, PROTEKTA, Ourcommonnow, Prespes Cultural Triangle, Friends of the American Farm School, HELMSIC, AIESEC, IAESTE, BEST THESSALONIKI, ELSA, FYL.See in Action, Humanity Greece, Aican, Evolve Entrepreneurship, House of Father, Open School days, Open School days, Utopian Academy, Stimmuli, OFKATH, POKOISPE, Koispe Desmos, Koispe Iris, Koispe West Thessaloniki, EKKA, Lions Club Ypatia, IWOG, Alzheimer's, Coexistence, En-Isχύo, Imeroessa, DEPSY, IRIDA WOMEN'S CENTER, Arogi, Association of Women with Breast Cancer “Alma Zois” N. Thessaloniki, SYNTHESIS, KETHEA Ithaca, ALTHEA, SYZOI, ENODIA, LIFE SOURCE, F.A.K.TH, ELPIDA, UNESCO THESSALONICS, Agios Pavlos Hospital, PYXIDA Prevention Centre, ALFA Prevention Centre, SIRIOS Prevention Centre, ELPIDA Prevention Centre, AHTIDA Association, ARSIS, SOPSY, ACTION FOR SOMETHING ELSE, HELLENIC DISORDERS, Thessaloniki Pride, ThessDiktio, OENEF, NELAIA Agios Antonios, JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT GREECE, Vision of Hope, RED-Y, EPAPSEY, Experimental High School of Kilkis, KyMa OEF Volunteer Animal Welfare Group of Kymines - Malgara & Friends, Hellenic Thalassemia Association, Kids in Action, Kids in Action.
The Connected We Stand was held under the auspices of: Ministry of Interior (Sector Macedonia-Thrace), Ministry of Migration & Asylum, Region of Central Macedonia, Municipality of Thessaloniki, Youth & Lifelong Learning Foundation, National Olympic Academy and Federation of Psychosocial Rehabilitation & Mental Health Organizations Argo.
For more information visit the https://ConnectedWest.connectyourcity.eu/
