European Solidarity Corps Grants for Individual Volunteering

You can choose one of 10 directions, including the integration of refugees and migrants, preventing natural disasters, environment and natural protection, inclusion, culture, sport.

With a dedicated budget of €1.009 billion for 2021-2027, the new programme will offer opportunities to at least 270,000 young people to help address societal and humanitarian challenges through volunteering or by setting up their own solidarity projects.

Costs Covered

• The unique volunteer experience and acquaintance with like-minded people from different countries
• Travel expenses covered
• Accommodation and meals costs covered
• Expenses for visa and residence permit covered
• Medical insurance
• Language courses
• Pocket money (the exact sum is based on the host country and the duration of the stay)

Eligible Projects

• Inclusion
  • This is a wide topic which covers such issues as working with people with disabilities or additional support needs, fighting discrimination and intolerance, working with minority groups such as Roma, and intercultural, inter-religious and intergenerational issues.
• Reception and integration of refugees and migrants
  • Helping to provide a safe welcome for people newly arrived in Europe, and assisting in integrating them into their new communities across Europe.
• Citizenship and democratic participation
  • Potentially working on human rights, justice and legal issues, and helping people to understand and better connect with democratic processes and decision makers.
• Disaster prevention and recovery
  • Helping communities to avoid identified risks for natural catastrophe, or supporting communities to recover after natural disasters strike. Please note that European Solidarity Corps participants will not be asked to provide any services related to the immediate response to disasters. These types of tasks will continue to be performed by those with the specialist training and experience to operate safely in these dangerous environments.
• Environment and natural protection
  • Projects related to climate change, energy and natural resources, and across different areas such as agriculture, forestry and fisheries.
• Health and wellbeing
  • Supporting projects which encourage general health and wellbeing, such as healthy lifestyles and active aging.
• Education and training
  • Projects could include a wide range of education related topics, such as combatting early school leaving, increasing basic competences such as maths or IT skills, or teaching foreign languages.
• Employment and entrepreneurship
  • Assisting in projects which tackle issues around unemployment, and also helping people to become more enterprising.
• Creativity and culture
  • Using the creative arts and culture to work with communities to tackle a wide range of issues.
• Sport
  • Increasing inclusion, equal opportunities and participation in sports, and encouraging grassroots sport.

Eligibility Criteria

• This is the opportunity for young people between 18 and 30 years who:
  • Are legally residing in one of the EU Member States or partner countries.
  • Did not participate in Solidarity Corps, European Voluntary Service or Erasmus+ individual volunteering activities lasting longer than 59 days.

Application Requirements

• Registration on the European Youth Portal.
• Provide your basic personal information, the type of projects you would be interested in, experience and knowledge you can bring, and time period when you might be available to volunteer.
• CV in Europass format.
• Motivational letter.
• You can update all of this information at any time.

For more information, visit House of Europe.