New Year, New Project - 100,000 Welcomes

Hola

I mentioned in my last post that a new service welcoming pilgrims to Santiago was being launched this year. We are going to run it for 6 months on a pilot basis and decide its future after evaluation. Only around 26 volunteers are needed in this pilot phase and these will be drawn from the memberships of the sponsoring organisations. We are very interested to hear pilgrims' impressions and experience of arriving in Santiago previously. Please leave a comment or send me an e mail. Here are details of the new project:   

New entrance to the Pilgrims Office

Amigos

A Service of 100,000 Welcomes –

An English language based programme at the Pilgrims’ Office in Santiago de Compostela

 

Introduction

The Confraternity of Saint James and The Irish Society of the Friends of St. James have come together to deliver a new service which will welcome all pilgrims to the Pilgrims’ Office. The service will be staffed by two volunteers and will run from May until the second week in October during 2012. The project will be evaluated towards the end of 2012. The evaluation will inform consideration of whether the project will continue for future years. 

The objective of this new service is to greet every pilgrim arriving at the Pilgrims’ Office with a personal welcome and congratulation as well as providing information for English speaking pilgrims.

The Trustees of both organisations approved the project in principle and delegated authority to an implementation team comprising two representatives of each organisation to develop and manage the project. It was agreed that John, who works in the Pilgrims’ Office would chair this group and coordinate the project for the pilot period.

The team has drawn up plan for the project which are laid out in this paper.

Name

The project will be called:

Amigos – a Service of 100,000 Welcomes.

Volunteers will be called Amigos.

Background

Pilgrims go to the Pilgrims’ Office either immediately on their arrival in the city or shortly thereafter. They have often walked a considerable distance in the previous 24 hours to get to Santiago. They often are still carrying their rucksack. Many are tired and thirsty. From all routes they can follow yellow arrows until they reach the Old Town of Santiago and then they simply follow the signs for the Pilgrims’ Office.

On arrival at the office they may have to queue for a short time. There is a new office layout and process and waiting times have been cut dramatically. However the Office remains very busy and in 2011 more than 180,000 pilgrims were received.

With these numbers arriving the staff of the Pilgrims’ Office has little time to do more than ask some cursory questions of the pilgrim about the journey, stamp their credencial and write their Compostela.

This project is aimed at complementing the existing services of the Pilgrims’ Office particularly targeted at English speaking pilgrims. It has the full support of the management of the Pilgrims’ Office.

The "new" system

Pilgrims’ Office currently

For more than 20 years the Pilgrims’ Office was located on the first floor of the Dean’s House at Number 1, Rua do Vilar. The office moved 2 doors down Rua do Vilar last year. Entrance is through a pretty courtyard with a fountain and pergola. There are stands for bicycles, male and female toilets for pilgrims and a Consigna – a left luggage service available for pilgrims at 1€ per day. The Pilgrims‘ Office is on the first floor overlooking the courtyard. There is now an electronic display above the entrance door upstairs telling pilgrims which desk number they should go to.     

Role of Amigos:

The name defines the role:

To be present in the courtyard generally between the hours of   9 – 5pm (see hours of operation later).

To say “hello”, “welcome” and “congratulations” (in a number of languages) to all pilgrims arriving.

To direct pilgrims to the Pilgrims Office, the toilets and left luggage where appropriate.

When the Office is at its busiest, for example in August, a second office is opened in the courtyard –arriving pilgrims need to be allocated to both offices.

To answer pilgrims’ questions - depending on the language skills of the volunteers - Spanish speakers and other non English speakers can be told to ask their question in the office. Induction in Frequently Asked Questions will be given.

Responding to more complex problems that pilgrims may have – and if necessary seeking advice from the project Coordinator or other staff of the Pilgrims’ Office.

To be ambassadors for The Irish Society of The Friends of St. James and the Confraternity of Saint James including highlighting what these associations can offer pilgrims back home. However this is very much a second order objective as the priority is to make pilgrims feel welcomed. 

To simply smile, chat and make pilgrims feel valued and welcomed and to provide them with the information they require.

Toilets and left luggage facilities for pilgrims

What skills should Amigos have?

Amigos need:

To have walked/cycled to Santiago for a sufficient distance to qualify for a Compostela .

Excellent communication skills with an ability to listen to and empathise with other people, including not talking about their own pilgrimages experiences but rather listening to those of others.

To have a pleasant disposition and be able to work as a part of a team.

To be able to speak Spanish to some extent or to be prepared to learn basic phrases in Spanish sufficient to welcome pilgrims. All Amigos should be able to welcome pilgrims in Spanish, to give simple directions in Spanish and be able to learn the words for “welcome” and “congratulations” in a number of languages.

To be able to recognise and observe appropriate boundaries between themselves, their colleagues, arriving pilgrims and the staff of the pilgrims office.

To be able to commit to working in the Welcome Service for at least 2 weeks between May and October 2012.

Amigos need to be sufficiently physically fit to be active for a full working day for a period of at least two weeks.

Be prepared to share accommodation (with own bedroom of course) with a stranger (but member of one of the associations of St James) – perhaps of the opposite sex.

Age and gender of Amigos

It is the intention to have a balanced team of Amigos in terms of age and gender and the selection of applicants will reflect that ambition.

Hours of work and flexibility

The Pilgrims’ Office opens at 9am and volunteers need to be there to greet the first batch of pilgrims many of whom may have been waiting for several hours at the busiest times of the year.

Generally speaking after the first surge there is a quieter period until 10.30am or so when pilgrims start to arrive so that they can get their Compostela before the 12 noon mass. Shortly after 12 there is another lull until around 1.30 when numbers build again until the late afternoon.

It is also important to note that the “walking season” begins gradually in May, has its peak in July/August and pilgrim numbers reduce in September and October. Volunteers need to adapt to different volumes arriving – for example when it is at its busiest organising and working the queue might be the most important job to be done. When it is hot it is important waiting pilgrims know where to get water.  The staff of the Pilgrims’ Office are always alert to the need to deal quickly with families with young children and disabled people.

Volunteers will themselves decide between them when they are going to work and how they will cover the day in co-ordination with John and/or the management of the Pilgrims’ Office.

Management and Support

The service is being developed and delivered by The Irish Society of The Friends of St. James and the Confraternity of Saint James. Together they have formed an implementation team. This is chaired by John who lives in Santiago and works as a permanent volunteer in the Pilgrims’ Office. He has overall responsibility for the co-ordination and smooth running of the service and Amigos will be accountable to him. In his absence he will make clear to whom this responsibility has been delegated. Normally this will be a member of staff of the Pilgrims’ Office.

If any Amigo has an issue (other than operational issues) about which they are concerned they should raise the matter with John in the first instance. If the matter remains unresolved they may refer the issue to the Implementation Team whose decision will be final.  

Accommodation and finance

Accommodation for Amigos will be provided free of charge in a central location in Santiago in an apartment with two bedrooms, plus lounge kitchen and bathroom. The apartment will be fully furnished. A starter pack of basic items such as milk, eggs, tea bags, coffee etc will be provided for Amigos on arrival. Thereafter they are responsible for all other subsistence costs.

The flat will be exclusively non-smoking.

There will be few house rules save the expectation that Amigos will treat each other with dignity and respect at all times.

No third parties, such as pilgrims in need for example, will be permitted into the flat at any time.

In exceptional circumstances an Amigo may wish a friend or relative to sleep in the flat for an overnight if for example they are travelling onwards together at the end of the Amigo’s stint. Permission for this must be sought from the Co-ordinator not least to ensure that there is sufficient health and safety provision including insurance.   

Amigos need to provide their own transport to and from Santiago and all other personal expenses such as insurance.  Amigos must also provide details of their Next of Kin including current contact number and details of any relevant health issues they may have.

Finding Amigos

An application pack containing much of the information available in this paper will be produced for applicants. The pack will contain:

1.     An application form.

2.     A role description.

3.     A description of the skills needed from Amigos/volunteers.

4.     A grid on which potential amigos should indicate their availability and date preferences.

5.     A timetable for the selection of Amigos.

6.     A description of the selection process including the dates of interviews.

7.     A note indicating that potential Amigos will be asked to give the name of one referee who may be contacted if selected.

All potential Amigos will be asked to attend an interview.

There shall be two selection meetings which will include an interview with each applicant. They will be held in Dublin and London. Amigos will be recruited from the membership of the Irish Friends and the CSJ or those known to those organisations.

Both organisations will publicise information about the new service in their own way beginning by end December.  

Timetable for recruitment

Whilst it is accepted that recruitment may need to be an on-going process throughout the pilot period the initial timetable is as follows:

December 2011

Both organisations start to publicise the service to their members and those known to them.

23 January  2012

Application packs available.

24 February  2012

Closing date for applications.

March XX  and XX – To be confirmed

Selection meetings.

End March

Selection made, references taken up and successful Amigos informed so they can begin booking flights.

May - Project starts 

Pilgrims receiving their compostelas