d. Host activity costs including language training, support to volunteer,
accommodation, food, local transport, project administration/communication; e. Volunteer allowance – ‘pocket money’ for volunteer personal expenses (within the EU, the allowance ranges from EUR 60 a month in Romania to EUR 150 a month in the UK 309); f. ‘Coordination costs’ (when more than one sending and one host organisation are involved): coordination, monitoring, networking, communications, administration, arranging insurance, help with visa, arranging meetings of project promoters; g. Additional dissemination and exploitation of project results if this was planned for in the application (up to EUR 500 for each project promoter). Special funding measures can be used to accommodate the needs of participants with fewer opportunities as long as they are provided for in the project application form310: • Volunteers from a disadvantaged background are allowed a paid-for Advance Planning Visit to the project site for up to two days; • Costs directly related to additional personal support to volunteers with fewer opportunities in the preparation phase or during the EVS activity abroad are covered; • Exceptional costs directly related to volunteers with fewer opportunities or special needs are covered. Some stakeholders in the MSs point out that these measures are still insufficient given the special needs of the severely disadvantaged youth who are less likely to know foreign languages or to have previous experience of going abroad. Most importantly, these tools cannot be used to finance additional pedagogical personnel, which is vital when implementing projects with young people who need much more counselling and guidance. Therefore, not only is more funding required but it should be more flexible311. The allowance amounts (lump sums) are calculated for each individual country and set for the whole of the financial period by the EC. However, the rates do not match the local living standards in some cases, especially given differences in the costs of living in cities and in the countryside312.
309
Ibid., p. 72. Ibid., p. 64. 311 Public Relations Officer at JUGEND für Europa, Bonn, 05-02-2010. 312 CSVnet (Italian National Federation of Voluntary Support Centres) Liaison Officer, European Volunteer Centre, Brussels, 19-01-2010. 310
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