Team Focus - European Centre for Development "is in constant readiness to respond to difficulties that might arise during the stay of the Bulgarian volunteer abroad. To ensure that security of the volunteers, our organization is in constant contact with the host organization, the National Agencies of the countries - partnyoki project, the insurance company providing insurance cover of the volunteers and sass SOS Unit of the European Commission, which is required to respond in the event of difficulties of any kind associated with our volunteers.

Voluntary projects are the most common type of project format, allowing organizations to apply for grants within the European Solidarity Corps to carry out one or more voluntary activities.

The following volunteering activities are funded under the European Solidarity Corps.

Individual volunteering is an unpaid full-time solidarity activity (at least 30 and no more than 38 hours per week) lasting from 2 to 12 months. This activity enables young people to contribute to the day-to-day work of organizations in solidarity activities for the benefit of the communities in which the activities take place.

In duly justified cases, especially to encourage the participation of disadvantaged young people, voluntary activities for a period of 2 weeks to 2 months may be funded and implemented.

Individual volunteering activities can be:

• Cross-border, ie the activities take place in a country other than the country of residence of the participants;

• National, ie the activities take place in the same country as the country in which the participant lives, for example to encourage and facilitate the participation of young people in disadvantaged situations; to provide opportunities where national schemes do not exist or to promote work on priority themes at European level within the European Solidarity Corps.

Volunteer teams are solidarity activities that allow teams of 10 to 40 participants coming from at least two different countries to work together for a period of 2 weeks to 2 months. Such solidarity activities could contribute in particular to the inclusion of disadvantaged young people in the European Solidarity Corps. At least a quarter of the volunteers must come from abroad. In the volunteer teams, young people from the European Solidarity Corps will carry out tasks for a project for a short period of time (usually, but not necessarily, during holidays, breaks between study periods, such as the transition from education to work, etc.). Despite their shorter duration, these activities will be valuable to both individuals and communities who benefit from this service.

Examples of the importance of work that can be done even for a short period of time include: restoration of cultural heritage affected by a natural disaster, feeding on endangered species; organizing educational activities in refugee camps, etc.

The advantages of this specific type of group activities compared to standard individual volunteering activities are:

• Volunteers work in a group. This can be an incentive for young people who do not feel ready to engage in challenging experiences on their own;

• The activity is shorter in duration. This can encourage the participation of those young people who cannot commit for a long time because of their education or work, but still want to help society.

In addition, the following side activities may be included in the project:

• Pre-planning visits (APV) - visits to the host organization's country before the start of the volunteering activities. The purpose of the visits is to ensure high quality activities by taking the necessary administrative measures, building trust and understanding between the participating organizations and people and establishing a stable partnership. Visits are usually organized for activities involving disadvantaged young people. Visits can be arranged for participants who may encounter various difficulties during their activities, such as young people who have never traveled abroad. Participants can also participate in the visit to fully integrate into the project and complement any other preparatory activity.

• Complementary activities - side activities designed to add value and increase the results of the project, as well as to strengthen its impact at local, regional and / or European level. Complementary activities also aim to raise awareness of the contribution of volunteering to young people and communities, as well as to strengthen the recognition of skills and competences acquired by volunteers. Complementary activities may include job shadowing, meetings, conferences, seminars, training courses, coaching, etc. A maximum of 10% of the total project budget may be allocated to complementary activities.