The European Solidarity Corps is the new European Union initiative offering young people opportunities to volunteer or work in projects in their own country or abroad while supporting communities and people around Europe.

Who can participate

Young people from 18 years old, legally resident in or have the nationality of one of the

– European Union Member States,

– Partner Countries

• former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey
• Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway
• Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia
• Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine
• Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia
• Russian Federation.

Some projects may have additional restrictions on ages, legal residency or nationality, depending on the type of project and how it is funded.

 

How does it work

You can register for the European Solidarity Corps when you are 17 years old, but you cannot start a project until you are over 18.

After completing a simple registration process, you could be selected and invited to join a wide range of projects.

 

You have the choice between volunteering individually and in teams. 

-Individual volunteering

• can last from 2 weeks up to 12 months
• is full-time (between 30 and 38 hours a week) 
• allows you to contribute to the daily work of an organisation that is actively benefiting the local community
• in ‘cross-border’ activities in a different country to where you live or ‘in-country’ activities, same country of residence of the participants/s 

-Team volunteering

If you can’t commit for a long period, but still want to volunteer then check out team volunteering, which:

• can last between 2 weeks and 2 months
• is full-time (between 30 and 38 hours a week)
• you volunteer with people from at least 2 different countries
• the group will be of minimum 5 volunteers and include people with fewer opportunities
• is usually abroad, though it can be in your home country.

 

What is covered

Complementary insurance, support services such as linguistic support and training, travel, accommodation and food.

-You’ll receive a small allowance for personal expenses (€3-6 a day, depending on the country).

 

Find out more here.