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ESC: A New Hope - SOFIA 2026

Code: 49211 Copied

Bulgaria European Voluntary Service Social work European Voluntary Service Social work +1 Fixed dates

About the project

ESC: A New Hope - SOFIA 2026

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

Caritas Sofia was founded on 31 August 1993 and registered as a non-profit charitable organisation at Sofia Court of Justice on 20 April 1994 (no. 20030416009). The 1990s saw Caritas Sofia exclusively focused on providing urgent humanitarian aid to help people survive the heavy economic crisis. Long-term care and assistance provision began in early 2000 as Caritas Sofia registered at the Agency of Social Inclusion and at the State Agency for Child Protection, which enabled the licensed provision of a range of social services. The mission of Caritas Sofia is love and kindness to our neighbor which brings us to those in need. Leaning on Christian values as our guidance, we, the employees and volunteers of Caritas Sofia, assist the most vulnerable members of our society in finding their way to dignity and justice regardless of their religious beliefs, race, gender and other differences. Caritas Sofia is a voice and example of the Social teaching of the Catholic Church. Every person is created in God’s image and in his face we see God. Following the words of Jesus - “What you have done to my youngest brothers and sisters, you have done unto me” - we help the most vulnerable and suffering in the same way that we would take care of Him. Having no means of our own and heavily relying on project funding, we cannot unfortunately cater for the needs of individual cases. Elderly people, vulnerable families and children, refugees, people addicted to narcotic substances, women in need and homeless people all form our target group. Additionally, we also support people wanting to volunteer. The organisation is based in Sofia and assistance is provided in cities and towns where the Catholic Exarchate is present: Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Malko Turnovo, Kuklen, Pokrovan, Banya and Veselinovo.

💼 What the programme involves

Caritas Sofia brings A New Hope to different groups: refugees from the Middle East and from Ukraine, Roma children, homeless people, youth with disabilities, abandoned elderly, children at risk, and others. We do that through a network of dedicated Centres and administration -- there is a lot of work and we need help on all fronts. You will have the chance to contribute and to learn. We have three general roles open: 1) Driver for our social kitchen; 2) Refugee kids and Roma kids work; and 3) Digital marketing assistant.

🏠 Accommodation on site

Accommodation in a shared room in shared flat, in a green and quiet Sofia area. Rent, electricity, water and internet are covered. Travel expenses -- international (to arrive and depart) and local (within Bulgaria, related to the service) -- are reimbursed to the participant. The volunteer will receive a monthly allowance for pocket money expenses and food expenses, in a local bank account: 210 EUR per month for pocket money and 210 EUR per month for food (a total of 420 EUR per month). Additional funding may be available for some participants.

🎒 Leisure activities

The volunteer must spend 7 hours per day (Mon-Fri) assisting our different teams in their work with those in need or other tasks. He/she will have ample opportunity to learn from our specialists and develop social, technical and organisational skills, hands-on. The volunteer will learn about the Caritas safe-guarding standard and about many other things, depending on his general role: social restaurant dynamics, refugee and Roma issues, teaching, playing and providing positive environment, digital media, working with people with disabilities, and more.

⚠️ Requirements

The Participant profile: You must be kind, honest, and respectful. You must care about the children's well-being and behave decently. You must be flexible and eager to learn -- we need people who want to help Caritas as much as possible. Advanced English language, relevant experience and technical skills are all advantageous but NOT a must. What counts the most is your personality and attitude. The volunteer role is the main area of help but he/she may be asked to help in other areas, too. ROLE 1: DRIVER FOR OUR SOCIAL KITCHEN AND REFUGEE KIDS WORK -- spending 2-4 hours a day making deliveries for the social kitchen, then 2-3 hours with the refugee kids. ROLE 2: REFUGEE KIDS AND ROMA KIDS WORK -- spending their days in English classes, games or sports with the refugee and Gypsy children we support; ROLE 3: DIGITAL MARKETING ASSISTANT -- spend most of their days helping the Caritas administration in making pictures during the activities in the different Centres, producing online content, and with other technical tasks.
Deadline:

ℹ️ Additional information

The project is implemented under the European Solidarity Corps Programme, financed by the European Commission.
The participating organisations have to be mindful of these needs as they are responsible for providing a respectful and trusting hosting environment. At the same time, the organisations participating in the initiative devote a great deal of time, energy and resources to set up a high-quality activity; they should therefore expect that European Solidarity Corps participants show a similar level of respect for the local communities and the people that are directly concerned by the activities (https://youth.europa.eu/solidarity/mission_en).
What do we provide ?
  • Training before and after the project
  • Health insurance during your project
  • round-trip travel reimbursement
  • accommodation and food
  • pocket money
  • language course
  • Return Week-end
  • Youth Pass and SVI international Volunteer passport

Before applying for this volunteering project, you need to enroll yourself at European Solidarity Corps Platform (https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en) and specify your European Solidarity Corps Participant Number (PRN).
This organisation holds a European Solidarity Corps Quality Label.
Contact the ESC coordinator at +32 2 888 67 13 to get more informations.

Interested in this project? Create your account and apply online.

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📅 Available sessions

BG49211

20/01/2026 → 20/09/2026

Closed
Volunteers registered 0 / 2
♂ 0/1 ♀ 0/1

ℹ️ Key information

Age required

18–30 years old

Solidarity donation

0.00 EUR

French tax residents may be eligible for a tax reduction of up to 66% of their costs (membership, plane tickets, solidarity donation).

📍 Location

Sofia, Bulgaria

Bulgaria

🌍 Location info

Local currency

Bulgaria Lev (BGN / лв)

Exchange rate

1 BGN = 0.515905 EUR

Rate as of 31/05/2026

Timezone

Eastern European Standard Time

Local time: 20:52 (12/11/2026)

✅ Features

🏠 Accommodation

Collective

🗣️ Languages spoken

English Bulgarian