Information providers

The promotion of voluntary work is one of the objectives of the Flemish Support Centre for Volunteer Work (Vlaams Steunpunt Vrijwilligerswerk).

Go Strange offers on their website information about the possibilities for young people to volunteer abroad and an overview of grants and subsidies.

 Also local authorities play an important role in raising awareness about the existing opportunities for (youth) volunteering and in disseminating information.

Key initiatives

Community level

• The Week of Volunteers (Week van de Vrijwilliger) is organized by the Flemish Support Centre for Volunteer Work (Vlaams Steunpunt Vrijwilligerswerk). It is an annual, recurring public appreciation campaign and its main objective is the promotion of voluntary work in Flanders. During this week, extra attention is paid to voluntary work and active volunteers. Each year the Support Centre for Volunteer Work also organizes seminars and workshops during this week. In 2021 these (online) seminars focused on the motivations of volunteers, in 2022 the focus was on dealing with change.
• The website ‘vrijwilligerswerk.be’ promotes voluntary work to potential (young) volunteers. Its main objective is to combine supply and demand of voluntary work. Information is collected a the website, from which various links are made to a number of organizations and informative sites on volunteer work. One can filter searches on volunteer work for young people
• Give a Day is a cooperative movement with a social purpose. Their mission is to promote volunteering and community service, inspire people to volunteer, and connect all actors in society for social impact through volunteer engagement. They do this by providing municipalities, schools, citizens and non-profits with IT tools (such as the website for corona & neighbourhood aid called Impact Days or Give a Day with the smart volunteer matcher and volunteer manager for automation of volunteer administration), to match volunteers and other actors in a smart way, to provide policy support around community-oriented care or volunteering, to provide methodologies and to give training.

Local authorities

• Many municipalities have a municipal one-stop-shop for volunteers, where information can be found concerning (the opportunities for) (youth) voluntary work. 'Het vrijwilligersloket' is often accessible  online.
• Promotion is done at local level, in particular by the associations themselves, by means of flyers, posters, etc.
• The organization of courses (training initiatives, workshops) on a specific topic (e.g. EHBO,…) of youth work. The main goal of these courses is to strengthen the competences of (young) volunteers.       
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