Support to young volunteers

Application of the Children and Youth Fund

In 2019, in the application of the Children and Youth Fund (Gyermek és Ifjúsági Alapprogram) those organisations could apply for a support who were committed to

• promote volunteering,
• spread the culture of volunteering and
• increase the number of volunteers.

Furthermore, another requirement was the implementation of youth programmes and activities to promote these objectives and which require the active participation of young volunteers. 107 organisations from 294 applicants granted funding.

The evaluation criteria of the 2022 application of the Fund include volunteering activities and the involvement of young people with disadvantaged backgrounds. The evaluation of the applications took into consideration whether the programme would contribute to

• promoting volunteering,
• increasing the number of young volunteers, as well as to
• implementing youth community initiatives.

In addition to these criteria they also considered whether the implemented activities involve young people from disadvantaged backgrounds in addition to volunteering. 

The timeframe of the programmes was 1 May 2022 - 31 May 2023. The application funded various types of supports, such as tools for the programmes (e.g. beamers, printers, IT tools, paper, office equipment and professional books) and operational costs such as travelling, running a website, marketing costs and meal costs.

Types of support

The Act LXXXVIII of 2005 on Public Interest Volunteer Activities (Volunteer Act) (2005. évi LXXXVIII. törvény a közérdekű önkéntes tevékenységről) specifies the list of support types available for volunteer activities. These are the following:

• work clothing, protective equipment
• travel, accommodation, meal costs,
• vaccination, medical examination,
• extracurricular training related to the volunteer activity,
• aid equipment,
• life, health and accident insurance,
• compensation for damage caused by a volunteer,
• daily allowance for a volunteer in Hungary from abroad or for a Hungarian volunteer working abroad and
• rewards.

Specific target groups

According to the Ministry information in 2022, the full involvement of young people in voluntary activities is a high priority for the Hungarian state. The overall policy objective is to promote the integration of disadvantaged groups in volunteering and to strengthen social cohesion.

Digital volunteering

During the epidemic, there have been changes in the way volunteering is done that have paved the way for a greater uptake of digital volunteering.

During the Year of Volunteering in Hungary (Önkéntesség Magyarországi Éve) in 2021, online volunteering programmes were also held due to the difficulties caused by the restrictions in effect at the time. (For more information on the Year of Volunteering, see sub-chapter 2.4 Youth Volunteering at national level)

The 'How are you?' ('Hogy tetszik lenni?') programme was launched in the online space in response to the pandemic and still actively works today. The programme brings elder people together with voluntary young people who have free time and can keep them company by active telephone contact. The Festival Volunteer Centre (Fesztivál Önkéntes Központ) and Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Malta have initiated and running the programme.

Supporting volunteers with fewer opportunities

There is no funding specifically for organisations that promote the participation of young volunteers with fewer opportunities. However, in the case of the above-mentioned Children and Youth Fund application, a special bonus point is awarded for projects targeting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Community building

The most significant programme, aims at developing and strengthening social cohesion and inclusion, is the European Solidarity Corps program (Európai Szolidaritási Testület). (For more information, see sub-chapter 2.5 Cross-border mobility programmes.)

Tackling societal challenges

There are various programmes for young volunteers to contribute to solve societal challenges. These are mainly related to environmental challenges:

• 'You pick it up!' ('TeSzedd!'),
• '72 hours without compromise' ('72 óra kompromisszum nélkül').

(For more information, see sub-chapter 9.4 Raising awareness about global issues.)