Doing voluntary work in/around Rostock

Is there any such thing as voluntary 'work' in the Rostock area. I don't want regular, paid work for various reasons (even if it was available) and my German is a bit 'rocky' but I have spare time and a desire to fill it doing something useful and interesting which gets me out and about, meeting people. What I would really like is to use my English language in some way. Any ideas.

How about popping along to a school or college and offer your services as an English assistant to help kids out with it?

not sure about using your English, but DRK (Deutsches Rotes Kreuz), ASB (Arbeiter-Samaritar Bund) and the usual other charitable organisations would probably welcome a hand - I guess for work with asylum-seekers and so on then a native English speaker might be particularly useful (or there are organisations specifically working with them, but off the top of my head I don't know exactly which ones there are in Rostock). I think the "Umsonstladen" is still going as well (somewhere in the Innenstadt?). Otherwise look in the news- or free ads papers (Blitz, Rostocker Sonntag, etc.) - most of the voluntary organisations seem to get their stuff in those pretty regularly so you can look through and find something that seems interesting and/or a cause worth supporting.

Picking up the school idea: You could contact all kinds of schools in Rostock, probably even Kindergardens, and offer to fill a Erdkunde lesson by talking about Australia, showing some photos etc. You could do the same in English classes, I bet most of the teachers/schools would love to have you there (at least that was my experience as a pupil).

You could also (probably only during summer, with the cruise ships in Rostock) offer your services as a native speaker to certain "strategic areas". I'm thinking of Hauptbahnhof or Kaufhof here...
How many times have I seen frustrated tourists, because none of the ladies at the Deutsche Bahn or the RSAG (public transport) or at some stores could speak English... They were pretty happy when someone helped them during conversations. Probably the Deutsche Bahn could hire you as a part time station translator or something? The tourist office might also need help, although I hope that they have at least someone who can speak English now.

How about Volkshochschule? You could teach English, or Australian cooking, or Didgeridoo (;-)) or just participate in a class. You could also try to establish conversation circles (is this the correct English word?), there are many students or older learners that do not have the chance to speak with a native speaker, sit down in a pub with a beer or wine and just talk, I bet you can make some great acquaintances with that.

Oh and one more thing, you can produce your own TV show for rok.TV, the open channel in Rostock, probably you are interested in media?

That's all for now, if I come up with more ideas, I'll let you know.

Those people some how always seemed to find me!!! I helped out a lot of tourist this past summer with finding the correct stop or telling them which water didn't have gas, or explaining how a Berliner does not have bavarian cream in it...Not sure how they knew the fat pregnant girl might speak english...others I helped out on my own just because I was feeling nice.

Thanks everyone for the ideas. Sorry to say I have already tried most of them without success. Offering voluntary service seems to be regarded with suspicion. Maybe something to do with unemployment (which I can understand). Like Vince and Amber I have spent three summers helping out non-German speaking tourists. My "can I help you?' usually brings an expression of relief and grateful thanks. I agree with the view that we who live here should speak German but you can't expect a tourist spending just one day in the country to learn the language. The tour companies have the problem covered but I can see the need for people to be around for the independent visitor who just wants a bit of help not a guided tour. You have it in one Vince, the Hauptbahnhof, and to a lesser degree Warnemuende Bahnhof really need someone. (Even Germans have difficulty figuring out the ticket machines). The ladies are friendly and very helpful but... And with cruise passengers you are dealing with mostly older people who are often not as quick to understand, resourceful and self-suffcient as the younger overseas tourists. Maybe they do expect everything to be made easy for them (thats what cruising is all about) but it would be nice to see DB and the City powers-that-be think outside the square and get Rostock the reputation of being super-friendly. I am passionate about this area (I choose to live here for no other reason than that I love it) and would like to be able to communicate something of what I feel to visitors. It's very frustrating!