Support on a volunteering project abroad does not arrive all at once: your organisation prepares you before you leave, an on-arrival training session meets you in the host country, and a mentor supports you through the activity. For European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteers, specific quality and support measures are foreseen: the General Online Training, language learning support, the Training and Evaluation Cycle, mentoring and recognition of learning outcomes. The stage you are at decides which support is useful to you, so Youth Works Hub keeps this page short and sends you to the guide that answers each stage in full. Our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps is explains the programme itself.
Last updated: October 2026.
Where do you find support at a glance? 📌
🧳 Before you go: any visa or residence permit you need, your enrolment in the insurance and, if your activity is cross-border, a preparation session with your organisation.
🌍 First weeks: the on-arrival training introduces you to the host country and helps you adapt to cultural and personal challenges.
💚 Wellbeing: the mentoring meetings should focus on the personal wellbeing of the participants and should also guide and provide support to the volunteers in identifying the learning acquired during their experience.
🧑🏫 Your mentor: personal support through mentoring should be provided to all participants in volunteering activities.
What has to be arranged before you go? 🧳
You might need either a visa and/or a residence permit when moving between countries to take part in your Corps activity. The Info Kit strongly recommends you make your request for any such travel or residence permits well in advance, as the process may take several weeks. A visa is a personal procedure: the volunteer applies personally; the organisations provide the documents.
The pre-departure training is only mandatory to participants in cross-border volunteering activities. The preparation should take place at least one month before departure and should be tailored to the individual needs of the participant. The pre-departure training must provide information on the basics of conflict prevention and crisis management. The pre-departure training must provide participants with practical and technical information on matters such as insurance, visa, pocket money and working hours.
The enrolment to the insurance must be done before the departure of the participants. The enrolment covers the duration of the activity, including travel days.
Our guide on your first steps as an ESC volunteer goes through the agreement, the visa, the insurance and the training sessions one by one, visa and residence for ESC and Erasmus+ covers the paperwork, and insurance for ESC volunteers explains the policy.
What happens when the new country stops feeling new? 🌍
The main objective of the on-arrival training is to introduce the participants to the host country, preparing them for the activity period and the European Solidarity Corps experience. The on-arrival training helps the participants adapt to cultural and personal challenges. The on-arrival training allows participants to get to know each other and to build a network. On-arrival training is ensured for participants in volunteering activities of at least 2 months, and in case of individual volunteering activity of less than 2 months and volunteering teams, host or support organisations ensure it.
Participants should also receive guidance on conflict prevention and crisis management. The on-arrival training session equips the participants with communication skills, including aspects of intercultural learning.
Language learning support is available for participants carrying out a solidarity activity in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps. Depending on the Action, language learning support takes the form either of a grant (150 EUR linguistic support) or of an online course via the Online Language Support (OLS). The 150 EUR linguistic support is only for activities lasting 60 days or more. Our page on Online Language Support explains how to reach the platform.
What the European Solidarity Corps Guide calls cultural and personal challenges is the stretch most volunteers describe as culture shock and homesickness. Our guide on culture shock and homesickness abroad explains what the two are, how they differ and which habits help.
How do you stay well while you are away? 💚
The mentoring meetings should focus on the personal wellbeing of the participants and should also guide and provide support to the volunteers in identifying the learning acquired during their experience. Possible topics of mentoring meetings: personal wellbeing, wellbeing in the team, satisfaction with the tasks, practicalities, etc.
If a conflict situation arises, you may ask your mentor to facilitate communication between you and the local environment or the host organisation. In the event of a conflict situation, you should be supported and you should cooperate actively with the participating organisations to avoid communication problems. In the event of a serious incident or conflict situation that cannot be resolved in other ways, you can leave the project; this, however, should always be the last resort and should be agreed with the National Agency.
The insurance coverage has its own exclusions and ceilings, and it is meant to cope with urgent and necessary care which cannot wait until the end of the activity period and the return home of the participant.
Our guide on mental health and wellbeing on a project covers what this support does, where it stops and what to do about the part the programme does not provide.
Who looks after how you are doing? 🧑🏫
Personal support through mentoring should be provided to all participants in volunteering activities. Mentoring consists of regular meetings between the mentor appointed by the host or support organisation and the participant, within as well as outside the place where the activity takes place. During the activity, all volunteers are matched with a mentor appointed by the participating organisation. A volunteer without a mentor should ask for one.
A Youth Exchange involves group leaders, and group leaders monitor and provide support to participants to ensure the qualitative learning process during the core activity. If a problem comes up in a Youth Exchange, the young person should go first to their own group leader, then to the host coordinator, and last to the facilitator.
Our guide on your ESC mentor describes what the role covers and what it does not, and what a Youth Exchange is explains the group leader's role.
Where do you go from here? 🗺️
Youth Works Hub has a Match page that finds projects suited to you; using Match requires an account on the site, and signing up with Google is available but not required. Opportunities are also grouped by category: ESC projects and Erasmus+ projects.
Frequently asked questions ❓
Is the pre-departure training mandatory for every volunteer? 🧳
No: the pre-departure training is only mandatory to participants in cross-border volunteering activities. The preparation should take place at least one month before departure and should be tailored to the individual needs of the participant. Our guide on your first steps as an ESC volunteer goes through the training sessions.
What can you do if the problem is with your mentor? 🔄
If conflict arises between you and the mentor, you can ask participating organisations to get another person appointed as your mentor. You should be informed about the different roles within the project and know in advance who is the contact person in case of emergencies, conflict situations in the host project, conflict situations with the mentor and logistics (board and lodging) etc. Our guide on your ESC mentor describes the role.
When does the insurance start? 🏥
The enrolment to the insurance must be done before the departure of the participants, and the enrolment covers the duration of the activity, including travel days. Our guide on insurance for ESC volunteers explains the policy.
Related pages: your first steps as an ESC volunteer · culture shock and homesickness · mental health and wellbeing on a project · your ESC mentor · Online Language Support · insurance for ESC volunteers
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
👉 Erasmus+ projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=erasmus-projects
