The minimum age is 18 years old to volunteer in the camp. (If you are not 18 yet, but a parent or guardian is on the island, you can help out in the warehouse and the office.) You must have a good grasp of English and have a desire to serve others who are in a very difficult situation. The shifts can also involve a great deal of walking.

We normally accept individual volunteers from 4 weeks to 3 months.

We are also very happy for volunteers who consider coming long-term. In that case, the first 3 months serve as a probation period, after which we expect you to leave the work for at least a week.

Towards the end of the three months, we will evaluate together what your long-term involvement could look like.

We also accept teams and require them to come for 4 weeks. Maximum size of a team is 7 people, including the Team Leader.

If you are considering sending a team, reach out to our volunteer services early to plan your dates.

You can contact us using the form at the bottom of this page.

Depending on the capacity and the legal/technical requirements that have to be met, we can sometimes take interns for their practical assignment.

Because interns usually need some extra care and attention and our long term staff want to make sure that they are mentored and supervised in the best possible way, we encourage you to reach out as early as possible.

Please apply and in the comments section, mention that you want to do an internship or are coming as part of your studies.

After we have assessed your application, we will get back to you about the possibilities.

With the exception of a few Greek staff, Eurorelief does not pay salaries or contribute to your costs.

Please understand that the moment you send your application, you are confirming that you have the means to support yourself during your stay with us.

Each person who comes to volunteer with us pays their own way.

The cost for staying at Eurorelief housing and using Eurorelief transportation to/from work is 12 euros per night. Some people choose to find their own accommodation, which varies in cost.

For food, expect to spend about as much for groceries as you would at home - plus the occasional outing with fellow volunteers at a café or Greek taverna!

The registration for individuals is 100 euros, which includes administration for camp registration/ access as well as the weekly meal at our Community Night.

You can directly apply with Eurorelief using the links to the volunteer application form.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to contact our office.

We encourage you to read the information on this page very carefully before you email us with your questions - they may already be answered here!

After you have filled out the application form, our volunteer team will usually reach out to you within a week with further questions, some more information or just the confirmation that you have been accepted.

If you do not hear back from them, please check your Spam folder before you reach out again!

They will stay in touch with you until you have arrived on the island.

Once you have been accepted, you will be sent a registration form where you can give more information on your expected arrival and departure date, update some necessary documents etc. The time between your application and your arrival on the field is the time needed to organise accommodation, do an online child protection training, pay the registration fee, get a police background check, make sure your personal documents are up-to-date, etc.

You will learn about all this as your application is being processed.

Don’t worry - you are in good hands with our volunteer team!

Around the time of your arrival, you will get a lot more information as well as a few contact details to connect you with those from the Eurorelief team who pick you up, provide your tour and training etc.

On Lesvos, please schedule to arrive on a Monday. If you are staying in Eurorelief accommodation, you will be greeted at the airport /ferry on the Monday of your arrival by a Member Care person and taken to where you will be staying. If you arrive on the weekend, please understand that we may not be able to organize transportation and a welcome for you.

On Samos, volunteer arrivals and training schedules are more flexible.

Normally, the Tuesday after you arrive is a settling-in day, and in the evening you’ll join the rest of the Eurorelief volunteers for the Community night, which usually includes a meal, some singing and group discussions about topics from the bible as well as much time to connect with other volunteers. Wednesday will be your training/orientation day of the camp. Thursday will be your first day in camp.

You can find a lot of information about our different tasks and volunteer roles on our webpage “Our work.”

Shift normally begins at 8:30 on Lesvos, and 9:00 on Samos, and goes until 4:00pm or 5:00pm.

During the morning briefing where all volunteers and most leadership come together, the Shift Leaders will give announcements and updates, and they will go through the projects and tasks that are happening on that day. There are several jobs that you can do even when you are new, and you will be asked to sign up for any of them in the morning. We encourage you to use your first few days to try out different things to get a feel for camp and see in which roles you are comfortable. Be prepared to step into whatever tasks are most urgent, and please stay flexible and positive even when you do not always get to do a job you enjoy.

Sometimes, you will be asked to help at the warehouse; shifts and briefings are slightly different there, but you will get all the necessary information in due time! We may also need your help on a weekend or outside regular shift hours - in these cases, we’ll make sure to give you other times off. Everyone should have two days off/week.

For individuals, Eurorelief offers some accommodation in rented apartments: We cannot guarantee a space for you in these apartments, but if you apply early there is more of a chance of availability during your preferred dates. On Lesvos, volunteers share rooms in Panagiouda or Pamfila, a walkable distance from camp. Bedding is provided as well as towels, laundry detergent, dishwashing soap and toilet paper. Each house is equipped with a washing machine. In some houses, a clothes dryer is available. On Samos, we have accommodations near the camp and in town; so we use cars and vans to get to work. The cost for staying in Eurorelief housing is 12 Euros/night for lodging related expenses. Married couples, older volunteers or long-termers usually rent their own lodgings or a hotel room.

Teams have to find their own accommodation; booking.com and similar portals offer many options.

On Lesvos, teams often chose to stay in Panagiouda, a small town that is only 5 minutes from camp. It is a lovely village and has small shops, cafes and restaurants. Panagiouda is only 15 minutes from Mytilene, so you can go into the town to eat or shop. Another option is Thermi up the road, which is a tourist village with many hotels and rental apartments.

On Samos, there are hotels and AirBnBs in town.

During your shift, it’s not usually feasible to leave camp for a break. In the camp on Lesvos, there are a few food trucks that sell Greek snacks and sandwiches. Sometimes we also have camp residents cook for the Eurorelief volunteers. Food in camp is usually not more than 3 or 4 Euros. You are also welcome to bring your own lunch. You have access to a refrigerator and microwave.

On Samos, everyone brings their own lunch. There, too, we have a refrigerator and microwave that you can use.

Outside of your shifts in camp, if you do not feel like eating sandwiches or cooking all the time, make the most of the many Greek taverns, some burger houses and fish taverns, especially in summer. You can support the local economy by “being a tourist” in your free time!

The meal provided at the weekly Community Night is included in your registration fee. Apart from that, you pay for your own food as a volunteer, whether you come as an individual or with a team.

Religious activity is forbidden in camp, and for good reasons: it is a government facility and the people we are working with are very vulnerable. It is our conviction that humanitarian aid should not be tied to missionary activities, and we strongly hold our volunteers to this policy. We provide aid independently of beneficiaries’ nationality, ethnicity, religious or political affiliation, gender and age.

However, Eurorelief is indeed an NGO that is based on a Christian worldview, values and ethics from the Bible. We expect all our volunteers to respect and apply those values in all our activities. We do a training when volunteers arrive that is based on these values. We normally start shift with a short devotional and prayer, and our mandatory Community Meeting each Tuesday night also includes some input from the Bible - next to fellowship and food. In addition, when our volunteers meet privately or share accommodation, very often their conversation will include spiritual topics, and they might process their experience by praying together, etc. You do not need to be a Christian to volunteer with us, but you should be aware of - and comfortable with - the fact that most of the others are.

If you want to go to church on Sunday, there are usually several options that you will hear about once you are on the ground.