Twenty-four participants from Ireland, Poland, Slovakia, Finland, Slovenia, Belgium and Malta participated in a four-day European Training Course organised by the Support for Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities (SALTO) and hosted in Malta by the Youth National Agency during June.

The training was aimed at organisations interested in sending and/or hosting volunteers as part of the European Voluntary Service action (EVS) offered by the EU YOUTH Programme.

The SOHO (Sending Organisations Hosting Organ-isations) Training Course supports voluntary as well as full-time youth workers dealing directly with young volunteers as mentors in EVS projects.

The two Italian and Hungarian SALTO trainers who managed the sessions, involved the participants in various workshops and discussions.

This training delved deeper into subjects that are closely linked to EVS and was intended to contribute to an increase in quality of EVS projects.

The main subjects tackled were: the role of a mentor in an EVS project, the intercultural dimension of an EVS project and partnerships in EVS.

A European Voluntary Service project allows a young person (18-25 years) to be a volunteer in another country for a specified period, normally between six and 12 months.

Voluntary service activities can take place, for example, in the field of the environment, arts and culture, children, young people or the elderly, heritage, sports and leisure or civil protection.

The European Union supports non-formal education opportunities for young people through transnational voluntary service which directly and actively involves young people in activities designed to meet the needs of society in a wide range of fields.

For further information and opportunities within the youth programme, visit the website www.youthmalta.org or call on 2125 566.