Want to help the community? Sign up for these weekend activities in Mumbai

Participants will make dog beds from cloth

After a hectic festive season, if you're looking to retire yourself from the parties, pop-ups, dinners and drinks, we've got the perfect set of weekend activities for you that might fit into a few of your New Year resolutions, too.

ConnectFor, a Mumbai-based non-profit organisation that connects volunteers to registered NGOs across Indian cities, has released its list of free weekend volunteer workshops and events. In a first, the platform has teamed up with Seva Charitable Trust for a dog bed-making workshop this Sunday. Seva Charitable Trust works with the tribal Adivasi community within Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Borivali to provide valuable life skills and sustainable livelihoods. Volunteers of this event will be taught to make comfortable and sustainable beds for street dogs. Don't forget to bring along old T-shirts with you; other necessary materials will be provided at the workshop. While the idea behind this workshop is obvious - to extend kindness to all living creatures - another aim includes nurturing a sense of community and encouraging civic responsibility.

Volunteers paint the walls at a school

This month, the platform has scheduled multiple clean-ups across the city. This Saturday, they will host a Carter Road clean-up in partnership with Ek Saath - The Earth Foundation. On January 20, there will be clean-up events at Dadar, Mahim, Juhu and Bandstand.

Another event that stands out is a school makeover workshop on the last Sunday of the month. Rutvik Mistry, an associate at ConnectFor, shares, "In terms of engagement and number of volunteers, the ArtShala: Paint A School initiative is popular." Here, participants of all ages can volunteer - kids must be accompanied by a guardian - to paint schools, railway stations, and public spaces. The event, in essence, is a movement that uses art to bring people together and revamp spaces. This month, the event is being hosted at a Kurla school.

A moment from a previous beach clean-up

Mistry shares that another unique event is the sensory board event set to be hosted next weekend, where participants create tangible, interactive boards to help persons with disabilities from Priyanj Special School build their touch and feel senses, and movement and motor skills by promoting physical, cognitive, mental, and social development.

While these are single-day events, the platform also offers options for people participating in large groups of 15, 20 or more individuals, by customising events or giving you the opportunity to conduct events for kids. And if you're looking for ongoing volunteering work, you can sign up to create videos in Indian Sign
Language or record audiobooks for children.

Rutvik Mistry

Dog bed-making workshop
ON January 14; 10 am to 12 pm
AT Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Borivali East.
LOG ON TO connectfor.org/group-weekend-volunteering
COST Rs 80 to Rs 90 (entry fee)