EUROPEAN VOLUNTEER SERVICE (EVS)

Within the European Voluntary Service (EVS) programme, young people can spend up to 12 months abroad as European volunteers helping in local projects in various fields. EVS represents Action 2 of the Youth in Action Programme.

EVS can be realised in all EU countries, as well as in neighbouring partner countries. It can be done individually, or in a group. A volunteer can be any citizen of an EU-country, or one of the neigbouring partner countries, between 18 and 30 years.

Volunteers in EVS projects participate in activities in different fields (like: environment, arts and culture, activities with children, young people or elderly, heritage, sports, etc.). The goal of EVS is to develop solidarity and tolerance among young people.

A volunteer receives an EU grant, which contains money for accomodation, travel to the programme and back, food, language course, health insurance and pocket money.

In 2007 Volunteer Centre got an accreditation of the Czech National Agency „Youth“ for being a hosting and a coordinating organization. In September, 2008, we started the first one, 8-month-long project, hosting our first foreign volunteer. Our next goal is to get an accreditation for sending volunteers to other countries, in order to enable active young people from the Ústí region to experience a great adventure, which is the European Volunteer Service.

You can find more information about EVS and other European actions on http://www.evsguide.eu/int/youth-in-action/evsguide/index2.html, and on websites of your national Youth Programme agencies.

You can also read about the life of an EVS volunteer in Ústí nad Labem on Grzegorz Ryczywolski’s blog greginusti.myevs.net.

In case of any further questions feel free to contact:

Mgr. Lenka Černá
dcul@seznam.cz
tel. 606 512 905