About the project

The ‘Stop Loneliness, Start Volunteering’ project was developed as a possible solution to different types of distress among young people occurring as a consequence of isolation and loneliness due to COVID-19 restrictions. Based on research and our own observations, volunteering offers at least a partial solution to the problem.

The pandemic brought restrictive measures which exposed a lot of people to considerable amounts of stress and isolation. Youth carried a significant load, being deprived of normal schooling and social life and dealing with illness and deaths of family members. As a society, we expected solidarity and sacrifice from them for the benefit of more vulnerable groups. It was especially difficult on young people that already lived in poor conditions before the pandemic.

The project aims to achieve the following goals:

Greater awareness of the importance of volunteering in preventing the social isolation of young people and empowering youth organizations and organizations involving young volunteers.

Identify, collect, select and transfer innovative and effective practices, including digital volunteering, which can encourage young people and especially young people with fewer opportunities, to volunteer.

Identification and awareness of the needs of young people in their involvement in volunteering activities and the need of volunteering amongst young people. Development of a methodology to prepare innovative volunteering programs and cooperation approaches, development of quality standards in the coordination and mentoring of young volunteers.

Enhanced role and empowered national and regional volunteering centres / networks for professional support to youth and other CSO in the preparation of new volunteering programs for young people and with them also.

Better understanding of the role of volunteering as an opportunity for personal growth, development, gaining competencies, professional development and maintaining and expanding the social network among young people.

Advocacy of youth volunteering and volunteering support for young people at a local, national and European level.

Raising awareness of the needs of young people and opportunities for volunteering.

Project Partners

The partners of this project are: FriSe (Denmark), DKolektiv (Croatia), European Volunteer Centre (Belgium), Volunteer Ireland (Ireland), Slovenska Filantropija (Slovenia) and European Playwork Association (Germany). The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.