European Solidarity Corps participants help tackle the Covid-19 crisis

Sist oppdatert Onsdag, 03/06/2020

Small acts of kindness and compassion are spreading hope. European Solidarity Corps participants in these difficult times during Covid-19 outbreak are ready to help where possible.

Whether doing grocery shopping, sewing masks or creating online educational materials for children, these young people are motivated and determined to take up challenges and support those in need.

In Croatia, volunteers from The Circles - Centre for Education, Counselling and Charitable Work have been helping elderly people. Despite limitations such as unavailability of public transport, volunteers are bringing groceries, medicine and other necessary items to the people in need, thus helping to minimize risk of infection for the most vulnerable part of our society. In Szczecin, Poland, volunteers from organisation Caritas prepare half a thousand food packages for seniors every day. Volunteers hosted in CampoSfera foundation in a small village in the south of the Świętokrzyskie province in Poland have also started shopping support. 

Volunteers from organisation Nevo Parudimos in Romania are busy sewing protection masks. They donate them to the people who can’t afford to buy them in Resita. As a starting point they bought cotton and elastic for 5000 masks and launched a campaign to collect sewing machines from the locals. Volunteers from Tratwa Associacion in Wroclaw in Poland are doing amazing work by producing protective helmets and masks for Wrocław hospitals.

In the Netherlands, young people have developed their own solidarity project called Fresh Table. The focus of the project is to offer healthy food for affordable prices. They are running their deliveries in Breda and Rotterdam during the Covid-19 crisis when online demand has spiked.

Activities online have gained a lot of popularity. In Finland, young people from a youth-led solidarity project Y-line provide online conversations by trained peer support to people suffering loneliness. Online educational activities for children from 3 to 12 years old are being developed by ACTOR organisation’s volunteers in Romania.

Are you curious about other stories of participants? Have a look here.

Are you also motivated to help? The European Solidarity Corps support projects developed by organisations or young people. Organisations who wish to make a difference can submit their proposals for volunteering, jobs or traineeships projects until 7th of May. Young people can develop their own solidarity projects and receive up to €500 per month to support their local youth-led activities. More information and application procedure can be found here. Projects will start as of 1 August 2020. Don’t stand aside, join in #EUSolidarity!