EVS

If you are considering whether to apply for EVS funding to cover the financial costs of your voluntary service, it is important that you understand what EVS is, how it works, and how it will affect your 'gap year.' Please read through this information carefully and then contact TFG with any further questions or concerns you may have.

What is the European Voluntary Service (EVS)?

The European Union, via its YOUTH programme, supports non-formal education opportunities for young adults through volunteering which directly and actively involves young people in activities designed to meet the needs of society across a wide range of fields. This support is arranged as the European Voluntary Service (EVS), and is based upon three fundamental principles:

To provide a non-formal intercultural learning experience for young people, encouraging their social integration and active participation, improving their employability and giving them opportunities to show solidarity with other people.
To support the development of local communities.
To encourage the establishing of new partnerships and the exchange of experience and good practice between the partners.

EVS allows a young person to be a volunteer in another country for a specified period, normally from 6 to 12 months, within the fields of, for example, environmental action, culture and the arts, support for children, youth or the elderly, heritage, or sports and leisure. Such activities must:

take place in a country other than the volunteer's country of residence
be non-profit making and unpaid
bring added value to the local community
not involve 'job substitution' (e.g. a volunteer must not replace an employee)
only last for a limited period (maximum 12 months)

Who is involved in an EVS project?

Each EVS project involves partnership and a signed agreement between three parties:

a Volunteer (you)
a Sending Organisation (within your country of residence)
a Hosting Organisation/project (the place where you will do your volunteering in another country), which may be represented (in the EVS paperwork) by a Co-ordinating/'Umbrella' Organisation such as TFG which oversees a number of different projects

Furthermore, all the Sending, Hosting and Co-ordinating/'Umbrella' Organisations within any one nation are accountable to a National Agency (in the UK, this is Connect Youth at the British Council). It is the National Agencies who decide whether or not project applications are approved and grants awarded; they control the money!

What does it mean to be an EVS Volunteer?

EVS is open in principle to all young people who are legally resident in an EU country and are aged between 18 and 30. Certain exceptions regarding the upper age-limit are allowed for young people with fewer opportunities, and are judged on a case-by-case basis.

Volunteers give their time and efforts to a project benefitting the local community, in exchange for an opportunity to practise their skills, acquire cultural and social knowledge, and build for their future. Volunteers are responsible for the practical tasks assigned to them and have a general obligation to contribute to the Host Organisation and community.

All volunteers who have successfully completed their EVS project are entitled to an certificate signed by the Member of the European Commission responsible for the YOUTH programme. These certificates are distributed by the various National Agencies or, in some cases, by the European Commission itself.

Some TFG volunteers are also EVS Volunteers.

What does it mean to be an EVS Hosting Organisation?

Places of work where EVS volunteers can serve are called "Hosting Organisations/projects". A huge range of different groups, bodies, placements, local authorities and other initiatives are involved, and by welcoming EVS volunteers, a Hosting Organisation/project will introduce new ideas and intercultural elements into its regular activities.

Some TFG placements are also EVS Hosting Organisations/projects.

A place of work planning to host EVS volunteers must note the following criteria:

Learning opportunities Clear learning opportunities for the volunteer have to be identified.

Job substitution The use of volunteers to replace paid employees is not allowed.

Equal access Hosting Organisations/projects cannot specify that volunteers should be of a specific ethnic group, religion, sexual orientation or political opinion. They must be open to all young people and cannot impose any specific selection criteria such as previous qualifications, experience and more than basic language ability (TFG does specify in all its EVS applications that “TFG is a Christian organisation, and whilst we do not impose our beliefs on others, we would expect Volunteers to be open and sympathetic to our beliefs.” For the majority of our partner organisations in Europe, with whom we exchange EVS Volunteers, this is also the case.).

Tasks Administrative and routine tasks may not exceed a reasonable percentage of the volunteer’s task. A Volunteer cannot be solely responsible for the day-to-day care of individuals. In office-based projects (e.g. at European youth organisations), the volunteer should have a specific set of tasks, preferably project-based, to carry out.

Supervision Each Hosting Organisation/project must identify a supervisor who is directly responsible for the induction, management and ongoing support of the volunteer, someone to whom the volunteer can turn in case of problems. In addition, TFG provides each volunteer with a mentor (one of our Field Officers) for additional support.

Language training Language skills have long-term benefits in addition to helping the volunteer to integrate into the host culture. The Hosting Organisation/project is responsible for arranging language training if required: for UK Volunteers going to other nations, language training is funded as part of the EVS grant, and this will be provided by the Hosting Organisation/project; for Volunteers coming into the UK, TFG as the Co-ordinating Organisation can apply for additional funding on a case-by-case basis if a volunteer's level of language ability is preventing work being done effectively at a Hosting Organisation/project, but English language training is not guaranteed within the UK as it is elsewhere.

Accommodation The Hosting Organisation/project has to provide suitable accommodation for the volunteer.

Food The Hosting Organisation/project is responsible for providing meals, or a food allowance for the volunteer.

Local transport The Hosting Organisation/project must provide means of local transport for the volunteer if travel is required in fulfilling the job description.

Personal support To avoid and overcome any difficulties, either in volunteers’ personal lives or in their activities with the Hosting Organisation/project, sufficient personal support should be provided. They should be given opportunities to integrate into the local community, to meet other young people, to socialise, to participate in leisure activities, etc. Contacts with other volunteers should be encouraged whenever possible.

TFG's role as a Co-ordinating Organisation

TFG is one of the bodies which co-ordinates the work of a number of different Hosting Organisations/projects within a network, and we are recognised as a Co-ordinating Organisation within EVS: “A Co-ordinating Organisation may have a considerable amount of voluntary work experience and belong to an efficient network, either at national, European or international level.”

Our responsibilities may vary depending on the agreements we have with various Sending or Hosting Organisations, but the primary role is to form supportive relationships with Hosting Organisations/projects and to coordinate, prepare and offer support to their Volunteers. We undertake to carry out all of the administrative tasks necessary to receive EVS volunteers and we are responsible for ensuring that the EVS principles are understood and rules complied with at Hosting Organisations/projects. We also have to ensure that volunteers attend the various training sessions organised by the National Agencies; (TFG is also an EVS Training Provider within England). In addition, TFG can act as a Sending Organisation for any UK applicant looking to serve at an EVS project overseas.

So how does it all work (for UK applicants wanting to volunteer overseas with EVS)?

TFG is part of a network of Co-ordinating Organisations that provide similar opportunities, and adhere to a high standard of good practice with regards to their support and training of volunteers. This network is called the Ecumenical Diaconal Year Network (EDYN); to find out more about this network and the countries involved please see their website. We have worked with most of these organisations for many years, and so we have great confidence in their ability to support you during your gap year.

Outside EDYN, we also work closely with organisations such as Love Russia, which provides EVS projects in the Moscow area.

TFG can also act as your Sending Organisation if you have found a different Hosting Organisation/project outside the UK using the EVS database. A shortcoming of this is that the database takes no account of projects being filled, opportunities changing, etc. so the placement you’ve chosen may well no longer available. Furthermore, there is only limited information on the database so it may be that the project is not suitable for you or has special requirements, or perhaps you have gifts and abilities that this placement will not make the most of.

Because of these facts, and because we have a wide range of placements outside EVS, TFG operates the placing process for EVS applicants as follows:

You will need to complete our application papers and send them to us.
We will then arrange to interview you, usually at an event alongside other applicants which will include a presentation about TFG, opportunities for you to ask questions, a ‘project preference’ exercise, and a face-to-face interview with a staff member. These activities will give you space to learn about TFG and EVS and to share what types of volunteering interest you in which nation(s), and any other relevant information.
Based on what we’ve learned at the event, TFG will give you some indication of whether we think we have somewhere appropriate for you, and then carefully consider possible projects and get in touch with our partner organisations about our ideas. You’ll then have a chance to learn about (and possibly talk to) to the local Hosting Organisation/project yourself before deciding whether this is the place for you. You may well be asked for an interview by your hosting country to measure your language ability and to match you to an available project more effectively.

Whilst this process is taking place, we’ll be working on the administration ‘behind-the-scenes’, the most important part of which is completing and submitting the Grant Application. The EVS National Agencies regards each matched volunteer and place of work as one individual project, and this document is what is used to decide whether to fund you. It includes pages completed by (or for) you, by TFG as your Sending Organisation and by your Hosting (or Co-ordinating) Organisation.

Remember, this is just an application; there is no guarantee that funding will be provided. The details have to be approved by the National Agencies of both the UK and your host country, and all National Agencies have different selection preferences and limited budgets. It is worth asking TFG at the interview stage about your options if the Grant Application is turned down by either of these.

So how does it all work (for those from other countries wanting to volunteer in the UK through EVS)?

EVS maintains a database of Hosting Organisations/projects; you may have seen this and chosen one you like the look of. The problem is that the database takes no account of placements being filled, opportunities changing, etc. so the placement you’ve chosen may well no longer available. Furthermore, there is only limited information on the database so it may be that the project is not suitable for you or has special requirements, or perhaps you have gifts and abilities that this placement will not make the most of.

Because of these facts, and because we have a wide range of UK placements outside EVS, TFG operates the placing process for EVS applicants as follows:

You will need to complete our application papers and send them to us (or get your Sending Organisation to do so. If you currently have no Sending Organisation, find out if there is an EDYN member in your country by checking here and get in touch with them, mentioning that you want to be an EVS volunteer in the UK with TFG.)
We will then arrange (often jointly with your Sending Organisation) to interview you, usually in your country alongside other applicants, at an event which will include a presentation about TFG, opportunities for you to ask questions, a ‘project preference’ exercise, and a face-to-face interview with a staff member. These activities will give you space to learn about TFG and EVS and to share what types of volunteering interest you, and any other relevant information.
Based on what we’ve learned at the event, TFG will give you some indication of whether we think we have somewhere appropriate for you, and then carefully consider possible projects and discuss with your Sending Organisation about our ideas. You’ll then have a chance to learn about (and talk to) to the local Hosting Organisation/project yourself before deciding whether this is the place for you.

Whilst this process is taking place, we’ll be working on the administration ‘behind-the-scenes’, the most important part of which is completing and submitting the Grant Application. The EVS National Agencies regards each matched volunteer and place of work as one individual project, and this document is what is used to decide whether to fund you. It includes pages completed by (or for) you, your Sending Organisation and by TFG as your Hosting (and Co-ordinating) Organisation.

Remember, this is just an application; there is no guarantee that funding will be provided. The details have to be approved by the National Agencies of both the UK and your host country, and all National Agencies have different selection preferences and limited budgets. It is worth asking TFG and your Sending Organisation at the interview stage about your options if the Grant Application is turned down by either of these.