ESC hosting and coordination

The European Solidarity Corps (formerly European Voluntary Service) is a programme that allows young people from 18 to 30 years old to volunteer in a different country from their country of origin, with the main goal of contributing to the development of the community into which they will enter.

Here at Spin we host around eight volunteers per year in our office, and we also coordinate several volunteers in our partner organisations. We advertise our ESC placements here on the website and in our newsletter. We list both placements here at Spin and the placements with our partners. ESC placements are also listed on the ESC database, which you can find here.

In order to apply for an ESC placement, first a participant will need to create an ESC profile. You can do this here. Participants should also contact an accredited sending organisation in their home country. Once the participant has an agreement with a sending organisation then the application process can begin.

To apply for an ESC project you will need to send a motivation letter and a copy of your CV to us for evaluation. If we we feel that your competencies match the requirements for the project we will invite you to a Skype interview to discuss your application further. All projects are based upon the funding of the Erasmus+ program, so if you are accepted onto a project we still need to wait for the Portuguese National Agency to confirm whether or not the project will go ahead. Most of the time projects will be confirmed, but it is not always guaranteed.

ESC projects are open to residents of all EU Member States as well as non-EU countries such as Iceland, Norway and Russian Federation. A full list of participating countries can be found here on the official web page of the programme.

ESC Objectives: to promote solidarity as a value, mainly through volunteering, to enhance the engagement of young people and organisations in accessible and high quality solidarity activities as a means to contribute to strengthening cohesion, solidarity, democracy and citizenship in Europe, while also responding to societal challenges and strengthening communities, with particular effort to promote social inclusion. It shall also contribute to European cooperation that is relevant to young people.

Duration: There are two types of project duration, long term and short term. Long term project are between 6 and 12 months, and short term projects are between 2 weeks and 6 months.

The programme offers to the volunteer:
– a round-trip (covered up to 100% in accordance with the Erasmus+ specific distance calculator) to Portugal;
– accommodation, food and local transportation from the living place to the working place (100% covered);
– pocket money: a pre-defined grant than is given to volunteers so they can use on any needs that the youngsters can have (150€/month for projects implemented in Portugal);
– linguistic support in the hosting country;
– medical insurance;
– Tutor (a member of the host organization) and Mentor (“first friend” in the host country).

Spin Association in an organisation accredited by the National Agency to send, host and coordinate volunteers in the frame of Erasmus+ Programme. At the moment our hosting and coordinating projects are the following: