EVS – European Voluntary Service

Since the year 2014, Secretariat for Youth has been implementing the EVS projects and aiding youth in finding right projects, getting in contact with the partner organization, completing all formalities… To cut it short, we can help you go to EVS projects! To learn more, get in contact with us.
What are the basic terms of EVS?
EVS allows people 18-30 of age to participate in social work in both the countries being the members of European Union and those from outside the EU. Volunteers are provided with accommodation, catering; receive allowance, insurance and language support. Both the organizations operating in Poland and the organizations operating in other countries provide support for the volunteers. The voluntary work can last from 2 up to 12 months and – in special cases – from 2 weeks up to 2 months.
Where could I travel to?
To the countries being the members of European Union, but not only. The projects are ran also by Turkey, Norway and Iceland. Because of the cooperation between the partner countries, it is possible to participate in a project carried out in Morocco, Armenia, Belarus.
List of countries implementing EVS projects: dokument „lista krajw evs_tabela”

What can I do at the EVS project?
Ask yourself – What do you want to do? The possibilities are numerous! You can run language classes for children, work with national minorities, help organizing concerts or observe wildlife.
More information at: http://europa.eu/youth/evs_database/

Expenses covered by EVS
European Voluntary Service is funded as a part of the Erasmus+ – a unique programme which covers almost all expenses of volunteers travelling abroad.
A volunteer can receive:
– catering and accommodation
– allowance
– health insurance
– language support (for example, in the form of a course or private language lessons)
– partial coverage of travel expenses. Travel expenses of the volunteers are based on the flat rates depending on the distance which the volunteer has to cover from their place of residence to the designated place of destination. The distances should be calculated with the use of the special calculator prepared by The European Commission
The calculator is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus/tools/distance_en.htm

– training preparing the volunteer for the travel and introductory training carried out after the volunteer arrival.

Participants of the EVS projects are:
– partner organization which serves as a host for the volunteer
– organization sending the volunteer from their country
– volunteer
– in some cases, coordinating organizations taking responsibility for a part of the partner organizations tasks

– The Erasmus+ National Agency, which the application form concerning expenses coverage by EVS should be submitted to