ESC: Join our herd of horses at the Equestrian and Youth Center Škatlica in Slovenia - LONG-TERM VOLUNTEERING

Name: ESC: Join our herd of horses at the Equestrian and Youth Center Škatlica in Slovenia - LONG-TERM VOLUNTEERING
Start: 2025-03-01
End: 2025-08-31
Location: Slovenia

Code: 4122166bb3fcf019c7 Copied

Slovenia Environment European Voluntary Service Social work Sport Environment European Voluntary Service +2 Fixed dates

About the project

📝 Detailed information

🏢 About the local organisation

The Equestrian and Youth Center Škatlica is a small non-profit organisation, established in 2017. We strive towards sustainable communities - those empowered to take care of themselves, individuals within them, and the world around them. Our main purpose is to empower young people with the skills they need to become independent, decisive, courageous, and curious adults. During the pandemic, Škatlica implemented (Za)upam si, a program of free online psychological counseling for young people in distress. In 2021, we began the renovation of an abandoned sawmill in Prlekija, where we are developing a rural community center with a particular focus on exploring the therapeutic impact of animals - horses - on vulnerable young people. The property is home to a herd of horses with which we implement various activities with and for young people, and we are renovating the old sawmill into a youth center. Through various activities, community events and workshops, we encourage young people to gain experience in non-formal learning, promote voluntary work, and foster connections among young people. Our main target group are young people who do not have equal access to activities that bring the greatest benefits to underprivileged young people (such as psychotherapy, equestrian activities, intercultural experiences). This includes young people from remote areas, those facing economic difficulties, those dealing with various addictions, and those from dysfunctional families.

💼 What the programme involves

The Equestrian and Youth Center Škatlica ('Little Box') is a small non-profit organisation, established in 2017. We strive towards sustainable communities - those empowered to take care of themselves, individuals within them, and the world around them. Our main purpose is to empower young people with the skills they need to become independent, decisive, courageous, and curious adults - with the support of horses! We currently have two open placements: SHORT-TERM volunteering (either 1 or 2 months any time between August and 15th October 2024) and LONG-TERM volunteering - 6 months starting on March 1st 2025. Volunteers will help with various tasks: horsey activities with children and young people (summer camps, workshops, trips, etc), care of the horses, gardening & renovation (optional - if interested), event organisation (community picnics, youth center activities, intercultural events, etc), management of social networks (FB, ig, videos).

🏠 Accommodation on site

Volunteers get their own room at the center,

🍲 Food

food, monthly pocket money,

We'd love to eat some meals per week together and we don't mind catering to different food preferences.

📍 About the location

The center is located in a very rural area but there are direct train connections to Ljubljana and Budapest and the nearest town is 15min away.

🎒 Leisure activities

⚠️ Requirements

The Participant profile: An intermediate level of English is mandatory as you will work with the local community. Please note that while there are always super-friendly locals coming for a visit and a cup of coffee, this is a rural place without much happening in the sense of culture/events so it's a bit different from living in a city! Horsey experience is not necessary as our herd is quite low-maintenance, but we've learned from experience that we don't always have a lot of time to teach you the basics of riding and working with horses if that's your goal - some independence in this area and a desire to plan your own learning is more welcome than actual skills (we have a lot of horsey books and local volunteers who'll be happy to teach you the basics!). When applying we appreciate you using your own words instead of chat GPT.
Deadline: 01/02/2025 00:00

ℹ️ Additional information

access to a car and bike, the possibility to learn horsemanship skills - or just spend time with our wonderful herd - and the chance to be a part of a very rural, welcoming community surrounded by nature (and animals - our animals love to smother volunteers with love ).

We organise a brief pre-departure workshop and an in-depth training on arrival related to working with horses, safety, community building, conflict management and team building. Volunteers are assigned a local and a task-related mentor. The Slovenian National Agency organises an on-arrival training and a mid-term training. Horse lessons are possible upon request (groundwork, lunging, riding, trail riding).

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.

📷 Project photos

ESC: Join our herd of horses at the Equestrian and Youth Center Škatlica in Slovenia - LONG-TERM VOLUNTEERING

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📅 Available sessions

SI41221

01/03/2025 at 00:00 → 31/08/2025 at 00:00

Closed

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Deadline: 01/02/2025

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

Senik 1, 5212 Dobrovo v Brdih, Slovenia

Slovenia

🌍 Location info

Local currency

Euro Member Countries (EUR / €)

Timezone

Central European Summer Time

Local time: 22:21 (12/11/2026)

🛡️ Before you leave

Security information

📞 Contact us

[email protected]

+32 2 888 67 13

Contact form

✅ Features

🏠 Accommodation

Collective

🗣️ Languages spoken

English Slovenian