Read This If You Are Interested to Volunteer in Slovakia

Were you a volunteer in your home country and want to remain active after moving to Slovakia?

Below is the interview with the Project Coordinator of Bratislava Volunteer Center:

Q: I want to become a volunteer in Slovakia, whom shall I contact?

A: First point of contact is The Center for Volunteers which can be found in every regional city. Contacts to each of 8 regional centers can be found under the following link:

      http://www.dobrovolnickecentra.sk/sk/clenovia/dobrovolnicke-centra

 Foreigners staying in Bratislava can directly contact Bratislava Center and monitor the News.

          https://www.dobrovolnictvoba.sk/en/news/

Not all organizations are registered in our database, so once you get in touch with other organizations during your stay in Slovakia, you can ask them about volunteering possibilities in their organizations directly.

Q: What areas are in focus for volunteers in Slovakia?

A:  There are many areas where people can get involved in – e.g., environmental activities, social affairs, human rights, culture, sport and education, expert volunteering, etc.

Q:  In which areas do foreigners in Slovakia volunteer the most?

A: There are no statistics available to be able to see this kind of information.  The only obstacle for foreigners is the language barrier. Foreigners could experience lack of knowledge of the English language on the organization´s side as the main reason for not being able to get involved in volunteering activities. It is very individual and depends entirely on the organization. Foreigners can either choose the organization where at least some of the team members speak English or choose an area where the communication is not so important, like environmental activities for example.

We will proactively be contacting the organizations in our database to get information about the possibilities they offer for foreigners.

Q:  May I participate in volunteering activities even if not on a regular basis?

A: Sure, there are also one off or short-term volunteering activities, in which people can participate when they have time. The short-term projects are mainly focused on organizing cultural or sports events.

There is a special program called Rychla rota (Fast Deployment Unit). The aim of the program is to involve those people who want to help but they don´t know exactly how to do it or they are unable to conduct volunteering on a regular basis in one particular organization.

    https://www.dobrovolnictvoba.sk/en/campaigns-projects/rychla-rota/

Q: Are there any agreements signed between the volunteer and the organization?

A:  The contracts can be concluded either verbally or on paper.  It can happen that written agreements are available only in Slovak language and the organization is not capable of providing any translation. It would be good when the foreigner comes accompanied by a Slovak friend just to get informed about the content of the agreement.

THE CENTER FOR VOLUNTEERS IS LOOKING FORWARD WELCOMING A WORKFORCE FROM THE COMMUNITY OF FOREIGNERS IN SLOVAKIA.