The European Solidarity Corps (ESC) offers an inspiring and empowering experience for young people who want to help, learn and develop. For participants, the solidarity activities are meant to produce main outcomes such as increased self-empowerment and self-esteem, improved foreign language competences and enhanced intercultural awareness. Volunteering gives people knowledge, experience, energy, tolerance, a habit of sharing, a professional approach and the ability to take responsibility. On this page Youth Works Hub goes through the personal benefits one by one, each with the words of a real volunteer. Our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps is explains the programme, and what ESC volunteering means for the person who does it tells the bigger story.
Last updated: November 2026.
Does ESC volunteering make you more confident?
Yes: increased self-empowerment and self-esteem is one of the main outcomes the solidarity activities are meant to produce for participants.
🌴 From Lithuania, Five Months in Aruba: "The programme gave me more confidence, helped me speak my mind more freely, and taught me to set clearer personal boundaries."
📚 From France, Supporting the European Olympic Youth festival in Skopje: "My volunteering experience allowed me to gain more confidence by proving to myself that I could accomplish things I might never have imagined."
Our guide on ESC for introverts and shy people is for you if you are on the quiet side.
Do you learn a language on an ESC project?
Yes: improved foreign language competences is one of the main outcomes the solidarity activities are meant to produce for participants. In an ESC project volunteers gain a foreign language used as a tool in daily life, not as a lesson (shopping, explaining something to a colleague, talking to a doctor), and often some of the host country's language. Participants in volunteering activities, including Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas, Humanitarian Aid Volunteering and Solidarity Projects, can get language learning support through Online Language Support (OLS). There are few problems with language itself, but it pays to learn at least enough of the local language to manage at the local market or greengrocer.
🇮🇹 European Solidarity Corps: "I became good at Italian, I found new friends and I integrated into the culture."
Our guide on what Online Language Support is explains the courses, and learning a language abroad shares more about learning by living it.
Does ESC teach you to live on your own?
Yes: ESC volunteers gain independent living: cooking, managing a budget, handling official matters and solving problems alone.
✈️ From Lithuania, Stepping out of your comfort zone is always rewarding: flying across Europe to a totally new country alone might sound scary, and it sometimes is, but after all you learn many new things, have a broader perspective on the world and, most importantly, you grow as a person.
🏠 New Challenges, New Connections in Poland: it was not very easy to share home with 5 different people, but at the end the volunteer got to know many people, got new friendships and amazing memories, and all these challenges built a more mature version of the volunteer as an individual.
Our guide on your first steps as an ESC volunteer explains the first days abroad.
Will you make friends during ESC?
Yes: volunteers gain intercultural competence from sharing a home and work with volunteers from other countries. Enhanced intercultural awareness is one of the main outcomes the solidarity activities are meant to produce for participants.
🎨 From Iceland, Creating murals for kindergardens, schools, and retirement homes: "Making lifelong friendships and feeling like i have friends all over Europe now."
💛 From France, My ESC journey in Belgium changed my life for the better: "It happened naturally; through less stress, more joy, and the excitement of discovering a new country, new friends and what I now call my "heart family"."
Our guide on how to make local friends on an Erasmus+ project has tips that work on ESC too.
Does ESC change how you see yourself and the world?
Yes: volunteers gain self-knowledge: what you like, what you cannot do, how you act under pressure. Better awareness of the European project and the EU common values is one of the main outcomes the solidarity activities are meant to produce for participants.
🌍 From Denmark, volunteering with the European Solidarity Corps: "You gain so much personal growth, you meet wonderful people who share your interests from all over the world, and you get an unforgettable experience overall."
🚢 From Italy, Volunteering Abroad, Our Experiences with ESC: "During these past months I have already discovered new sides of me and learnt invaluable life lessons and skills that will enrich my experience."
Our guide on culture shock and homesickness abroad covers the hard days, and reverse culture shock covers coming home.
Do you also give something back?
Yes: volunteering provides young people with the opportunity to take part in activities that address identified needs within local communities and contribute to overcoming important societal challenges on the ground. The aim of ESC is that the volunteer makes a concrete contribution to the community, develops personally and experiences intercultural solidarity. Increased motivation for further engagement in solidarity activities is one of the main outcomes the solidarity activities are meant to produce for participants. Our guide on how the European Solidarity Corps changes people and local communities looks at the community side.
Do you get a certificate for what you learn?
Yes: every young person taking part in European Solidarity Corps activities is entitled to go through the Youthpass process and receive a Youthpass certificate at the end of the process. Youthpass identifies and documents the competences developed during the project. Youthpass is not a diploma or a professional qualification and does not bring a job or recognition on its own; its value is that it makes your learning structured and easy to explain. Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate, and how ESC volunteering can lead to a career covers the career benefits with real volunteer stories.
Frequently asked questions
Can one summer project change you?
Yes: "I left this project forever changed. It helped me grow, step out of my comfort zone, and see the world through a more open-minded perspective," says a volunteer from France in My ESC Experience: A Life-Changing Summer on the European Youth Portal. Short term individual volunteering is participation lasting between 14 and 59 days, excluding travel days. Our guide on summer volunteering in Europe lists short options.
What level of English do you need?
Most projects accept participants with basic English, and language support is provided during the project. Our guide on what Online Language Support is explains the courses.
Does taking part cost you anything?
ESC volunteering is fully funded: technically you pay nothing, although you sometimes pay costs such as tickets and visas first and are reimbursed afterwards. Our guide on whether ESC is fully funded explains what is covered.
Is ESC a language course or a holiday?
No: ESC is not a temporary or part-time job, an internship or paid work, only fun, a tourist trip or a language course, cheap labour, or university study abroad. Travel and language learning are side benefits; the core of the programme is volunteering, contributing to the community and solidarity. Our guide on whether ESC volunteering is worth it weighs the pros and cons.
Find the project that fits you
Youth Works Hub has a Match page that finds projects suited to you: it asks 8 questions and shows the results as a swipeable deck of cards, and saved projects stay on your profile page. Using Match requires creating an account on the site; signing up with Google is available but not required. The Youth Works Hub pages below cover the next steps.
Related pages: what the European Solidarity Corps is · whether ESC volunteering is worth it · how ESC volunteering can lead to a career · how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects · what Youthpass is
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
