The EVEC Volunteer Academy is a free online volunteering programme run by EVEC Athens, the non-profit behind volunteer.org.gr, for anyone aged 15 or over, wherever they live. You choose real tasks that EVEC needs done, a named person reviews your work, and approved work earns drachmas: the Academy’s own points, not money.
The sign-up form on this page is for people aged 18 or over. If you are 15 to 17, a parent or guardian registers you first, on the Academy’s page for parents. Your Academy account and dashboard run on evec.org.gr, EVEC’s main website, so the page for parents and the sign-in open there.
Step by step
How the Volunteer Academy works
Everything happens online, in your Academy dashboard on evec.org.gr or in the Android app. You read short lessons on how Erasmus+ youth projects work, and you take on real tasks from home: translation, research, checking, writing and video. Every task is something EVEC needs done. None of it is made up to keep you busy.
Sign up
18 or over? Use the form on this page, then confirm your email and sign in to your dashboard on evec.org.gr. Aged 15 to 17? A parent or guardian registers you first, and you start with the link EVEC sends them. Nobody will call or interview you.
Learn and take on tasks
The Lessons tab has short lessons that you read at your own pace. The Volunteer tab lists the tasks open to you and any task the team gives you. You pick what you work on, one task at a time, and share your work as a link.
Get feedback and move up
A named reviewer at EVEC reads your work and explains any changes. Approved work earns drachmas, the Academy’s own points, and finished tasks move you up a level.
Free · Online · Real tasks
Why join the Volunteer Academy
You give your time to work that EVEC needs done, and you get feedback, a record of your hours and certificates in return. There is no minimum and no commitment.
Real tasks for a real organisation
EVEC Athens, a non-profit recognised in Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps, puts your work to real use. Your work stays yours, and you can use it yourself too. See who runs the Academy.
Feedback from a named person
Your reviewer explains any changes, and being asked to revise is normal: it does not count against you. See how the Academy keeps volunteers safe.
Certificates and a record of your hours
You get a certificate of participation and a record of the hours you have given, and you can spend drachmas on EVEC certificates.
Move up as you finish tasks
Your level goes up on its own as you finish tasks, from Seed to Sprout to Grower, and the team can then give you longer tasks. See the three levels.
Free and online, in Greek and English
It costs nothing. It is volunteering, so it is also unpaid. Everything happens online, so you can take part from anywhere. Task briefs are written in English as well as Greek, and each task says which language it needs.
Write for Volunteer Voices, if you want
The best English articles written in the Academy can be published in Volunteer Voices on this website, with your permission (for under-18s, a parent’s or guardian’s). See how an article gets there.
Earning drachmas also gives you priority for EVEC programmes, within each programme’s own rules and without a guaranteed place. See what you get back.
Ages and routes
Who the Volunteer Academy is for
The Academy is open to anyone aged 15 or over, wherever they live, because everything happens online. It was built especially for young people in places where little else is going on for them. What is open to you depends on your age.
15 to 17
A parent or guardian registers you first, on the Academy’s page for parents. You cannot use the form on this page. This is EVEC’s own rule, stricter than Greek law, and it applies wherever you live. Open to you: lessons and real tasks, such as checking EVEC’s Greek pages, image descriptions and subtitles, researching open calls across Europe, building the Greek-English glossary and writing answers to questions EVEC gets every week. Translation opens once you have a few tasks behind you.
18 and over
Sign yourself up with the form on this page. You can do every task open to 15- to 17-year-olds, plus cataloguing EVEC’s project photo archive and research for its funding applications. 18 is also the minimum age for European Solidarity Corps placements. The European Commission sets those age rules, not EVEC.
Under 15
You can join from your 15th birthday. That is the age at which Greek law allows you to agree to an online service on your own, but EVEC still asks a parent or guardian to register everyone under 18. On or after your 15th birthday, a parent or guardian can register you.
What you would do
Real tasks, small enough to finish
Examples from the Academy’s task list, with the time each one takes.
- Check three of EVEC’s pages on your phone20 minutes
- Tell EVEC where its Greek sounds wrong30 minutes
- Write descriptions of photos for screen readers30 minutes
- Find links on EVEC’s website that no longer work45 minutes
- Scan Europe’s partner boards for open calls45 minutes
- Decide how EVEC translates a term, once and for all45 minutes
- Answer a question EVEC gets every week60 minutes
- Subtitle a short video60 minutes
- Rewrite one of EVEC’s pages for people your age60 minutes
- Make something for EVEC’s social channels75 minutes
- Map the youth organisations near you90 minutes
- Translate a section from English to Greek2 hours
Every task has a deadline and a named reviewer at EVEC.
How you move up
Three levels, reached by finishing tasks
Your level goes up on its own when you reach the number of finished tasks. No one chooses who moves up, you never need to ask, and it happens straight away.
Seed
Σπόρος
Every task at this level was planned by someone else. The brief tells you what to do, what a finished piece looks like and who will check it.
Sprout
Φύτρο
The team can now also give you longer tasks marked for level 2, for example writing a proposal to your local council (municipality), or reading a study and making notes on it. Drachmas depend on how long a task takes, so these longer tasks earn more.
Grower
Καλλιεργητής
The team can also give you level-3 tasks, the longest ones on the list. One example is writing both sides of a European debate about young people.
What you get back
Drachmas, certificates and a record of your work
Drachmas (₯)
The Academy’s own points. You earn them when you finish a module of lessons and when the team approves your work. Sending work is not enough on its own. Article tasks earn them when the article is published. They do not expire while your account exists.
EVEC certificates
You spend drachmas inside the Academy on EVEC certificates. They range from Bronze (100 drachmas) up to The Talent (10,000 drachmas). You can get each certificate once, and you keep it for good.
Certificate of participation and record
You also get a certificate of participation and a record of the hours you have given. These are separate from the certificates you get with drachmas. Your name goes on your work only where you have agreed to it. Your record and certificates are in the My file tab, where you can print or save your record.
Priority for EVEC programmes
Earning drachmas makes you an active volunteer. When EVEC chooses participants for its programmes, active volunteers get priority. Each programme’s own rules on who can take part still apply, and priority is not a guaranteed place. The people choosing look only at whether you are an active volunteer and how many drachmas you have earned, never at what you wrote. You can object to this at any time by writing to academy@evec.org.gr. Your application is then judged on the programme’s own rules alone.
18 or over? You can also earn drachmas for following EVEC’s social media accounts and engaging with its posts.
Drachmas are points, not money. You cannot exchange them for money or pass them to anyone else, and they do not pay for fees or travel.
18 or over
Create your Volunteer Academy account
18 or over? Go straight to the sign-up form. This is the Academy’s own sign-up form. It creates your Academy account on evec.org.gr. The Get notified form on this website does a different job: it tells EVEC how you would like to help and lets you ask for emails, for example when checked volunteer actions open in Greece. It does not create an Academy account.
Aged 15 to 17?
This form is for adults. If you are 15, 16 or 17, a parent or guardian has to register you first, on the Academy’s page for parents. EVEC then sends them a link for you. With that link you set up your own profile, pick a username and password, give your own agreement, and begin. Nobody will call or interview you. If the link is not used within 14 days, everything about you is deleted automatically and your parent or guardian is told. Not sure how to ask them? The page for parents has a short message you can copy and send.
Go to the page for parents (evec.org.gr)After you sign up
- Look for EVEC’s email and tap the link inside to confirm your address. The link stops working after 24 hours. If nothing arrives within ten minutes, check your spam folder, or use “Forgotten your password?” on the Academy sign-in page on evec.org.gr.
- Sign in with your username or email at evec.org.gr/volunteers-academy/my-dashboard/. Save it as a bookmark, because your account is there, not on volunteer.org.gr.
- Once you are in, the Lessons tab has your lessons. The Volunteer tab lists the tasks open to you and any task the team gives you.
- When you get a new task or a review result, EVEC emails you and it also appears in the Academy. Amounts marked ₯ are drachmas, the Academy’s own points. They are not money.
- Questions? Use the Messages tab inside the Academy, or email academy@evec.org.gr.
Already have an account? Sign in to your dashboard on evec.org.gr.
18 or over? Fill in the form below. It takes about two minutes, with no interview and no call. Your answers go straight to the Academy on evec.org.gr, and this website does not keep a copy. EVEC Athens, which runs both websites, uses them to set up your account and run the programme, and emails you a link to confirm your address. You can withdraw your agreement at any time with “I want to leave” in the Academy, or by writing to academy@evec.org.gr. The evec.org.gr privacy notice, not the volunteer.org.gr Privacy Policy, explains what the Academy keeps, who else receives it and your rights.
Thank you
Thank you. Check your email now and tap the link from EVEC to confirm your address. The link works for 24 hours. Then sign in at evec.org.gr/volunteers-academy/my-dashboard/. Nothing after ten minutes? Look in your spam folder.
Prefer to sign up on evec.org.gr, or is the form not working? Use the sign-up page on evec.org.gr. It creates the same account. Still stuck? Write to academy@evec.org.gr.
On your phone
The Volunteer Academy app for Android
Use the Academy on your Android phone with the free EVEC Volunteer Academy app from Google Play. You can also use the Academy in your web browser, on evec.org.gr.
- Read the short lessons as cards on your phone.
- Take on small, real tasks. A person on our team reads what you send.
- Write to our team in the Messages tab. There is no chat between volunteers.
- Choose which notifications you get: a new task, a reply to your work, a message from our team.
The app is in English and Greek, for anyone aged 15 or over. Aged 15 to 17? A parent or guardian registers you first. Google Play and the Google Play logo are trademarks of Google LLC.
Staying safe
How the Volunteer Academy keeps volunteers safe
These rules apply to every volunteer. Some are there especially for volunteers under 18.
- No chat between volunteers, at any age: no forum and no private messages.
- All Academy staff can read your messages. You write to EVEC in the Messages tab, and every Academy staff member can read that thread, so a young person is never alone with one adult. Staff will never phone a volunteer or contact them by private email or social media, and they will never ask to.
- Adult reviewers only. Only adults on the EVEC team review a young person’s work. They get the same safeguarding briefing as staff, and EVEC requests a criminal-record certificate from them.
- Adult-only actions stay hidden. Volunteers aged 15 to 17 do not see the social media actions and cannot claim them.
- Clear content rules. When they register, everyone agrees never to send nudity or sexual content, violent or gory images or text, hate, harassment or bullying, anything that insults or mocks people or groups, other people’s details or faces without their written permission, or work copied from someone else. Such content is removed, and EVEC may close the account that sent it.
- No file uploads. You share your work as links, for example to a Google Doc or Drive file. If you make photos or video, EVEC removes the location data from every file before using it.
- Report a problem. Every Academy screen has a “Report a problem” link, and every report also reaches the person responsible for safeguarding (see below).
The one place volunteers see each other’s work is a “graphics call”, which is an open call for images, not a phone or video call. When the team approves an article for publishing, volunteers can each suggest an image for it, and the writer sees the images marked A, B and C, with no names. While the call is open, volunteers get a link to the article’s document so they can read it, and Google may show them the name of the Google account that owns it. A writer who does not want their own document shared can ask EVEC to make a copy and share that instead.
Worried about something? Email youth@evec.org.gr and mark your message “Safeguarding”. It reaches Mrs Mirlena Charisi, President of EVEC Athens, who is responsible for safeguarding. She is independent of the people who run the Academy day to day. EVEC will confirm that it has received your message within two working days. In an emergency, call your local emergency number. Across the EU that is 112. In Greece, you can also call the National Helpline for Children SOS 1056, run by The Smile of the Child. Read EVEC’s full safeguarding policy.
Under 18
For parents and guardians
A parent or guardian registers every volunteer under 18, on the Academy’s page for parents. EVEC then emails you a link to pass on to your child, who uses it to set up their own profile and give their own agreement.
Every email comes to you
Your child does not give EVEC an email address, so all Academy emails about them come to you. That includes the confirmation that they have joined, every task they are given and every review result, any new level, and news that they have left or that their account was deleted.
A copy of everything
You can ask EVEC at any time for a full copy of everything it holds about your child. There is no parent sign-in yet, but EVEC will show you what your child has written if you ask.
Withdraw at any time
Until your child turns 18, you can take them out whenever you like, and you do not have to say why. Access closes the same day, and EVEC confirms by email. Published work stays published, but your child’s name comes off it if you ask. Articles in Volunteer Voices on this website can also be taken down if you ask. You can also have the account deleted by writing to academy@evec.org.gr from the address you registered with.
As little data as possible
EVEC holds nothing about your child until you register them. It does not hold their full surname, full date of birth, school, address, phone number or an email address of their own.
Read the information for parents and register your child on evec.org.gr.
Trust and transparency
Run by EVEC Athens
EVEC Athens runs both the Volunteer Academy and volunteer.org.gr. It is an organisation recognised in Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps.
EVEC Athens (European Voluntary and Educational Center) is a non-profit association in Zografou, Athens, founded in 2017. The credentials below belong to EVEC Athens as an organisation, not to the Academy on its own.
Erasmus+ accreditation
Code 2023-1-EL02-KA150-YOU-000188397. The code appears on the records of projects EVEC coordinates: see it on the Erasmus+ Project Results Platform.
European Solidarity Corps Quality Label
For hosting and supporting roles. Code 2023-1-EL02-ESC50-QLA-000195138. See the European Youth Portal record.
EU identifiers
OID E10172681 · PIC 909448430, listed on the same European Youth Portal record.
- Questions about the Academy: academy@evec.org.gr. EVEC replies within two working days.
- Anything else: erasmus@evec.org.gr or +30 21 2104 2017.
- More about EVEC, including the EU-listed projects it coordinates.
- Want to volunteer in person? Actions in Greece are in preparation: see how to volunteer in Greece.
- Need volunteers? See how to find volunteers for your organisation in Greece.
- More questions about volunteering? See the volunteer.org.gr FAQ.
FAQ
Questions about the Volunteer Academy
Is the Academy sign-up the same as the “Get notified” form?
No. The form on this page is for people aged 18 or over. It creates your Academy account on evec.org.gr, so you can start online tasks. The Get notified form on this website does a different job. It tells EVEC how you would like to help, and lets you ask for emails when checked actions open in Greece or when Volunteer Academy articles come out. Onsite actions in Greece are still in preparation. That form does not create an Academy account. If you are 18 or over, you can use both forms. If you are 15 to 17, a parent or guardian registers you for the Academy on the page for parents, and you can use the Get notified form once your parent or guardian has given permission.
How much time does it take?
As much or as little as suits you. Most tasks fit into one evening, and the examples above take between 20 minutes and 2 hours. There is no minimum. Taking a month off and then coming back is fine, but tell the team, so they know you are taking a break.
Does it cost anything, and is it paid?
It costs nothing. It is volunteering, so it is also unpaid. Drachmas are the Academy’s own points, not money. You cannot exchange them for money or pass them to anyone else, and they do not pay for fees or travel.
Which languages do I need?
Each task says what it requires. Some need English. Others, such as checking EVEC’s Greek or mapping your area, need only Greek. If you are 18 or over and do not speak Greek, much of the work needs no Greek at all, for example design, video, subtitling, research and social content. Task briefs are written in English as well as Greek.
Is there an app?
Yes. The free EVEC Volunteer Academy app is on Google Play for Android phones. It has the Academy’s lessons and tasks, messages with our team and the notifications you choose, in English and Greek. On an iPhone or a computer, use the Academy in your web browser, on evec.org.gr. The app is for anyone aged 15 or over. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian registers you first, on the Academy’s page for parents.
I do not live in Greece. Can I join?
Yes. The Academy is open wherever you live, from age 15, and everything happens online. If you are 18 or over, sign up with the form on this page. If you are 15 to 17, a parent or guardian registers you first, on the Academy’s page for parents. This is EVEC’s own rule, and it applies wherever you live.
I am under 15. Can I take part?
Not yet. You can join from your 15th birthday. On or after that day, a parent or guardian can register you on the Academy’s page for parents. EVEC asks a parent or guardian to register everyone under 18.
What happens to the work I send?
EVEC puts your work to real use. You still own it, and you can use it yourself too. Nothing is published until the team approves it. One of the required ticks on the Academy sign-up form allows EVEC to publish approved work on evec.org.gr, microgreens.org.gr and EVEC’s Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and LinkedIn accounts. When EVEC publishes your article or graphic, it uses your name only if you chose “My name on the website” (for under-18s, the parent or guardian chooses). Adults are credited by first name and initial, under-18s by first name only. Otherwise the credit reads “EVEC Academy volunteer”. If you leave, work that is already published stays published, but your name comes off it whenever you ask. The best English articles written in the Academy can be published in Volunteer Voices on this website. The tick does not cover volunteer.org.gr, and neither does the “My name on the website” choice. So EVEC publishes your article or graphic here only with your permission for volunteer.org.gr, and shows your name here only if you agreed to that too. For under-18s, the parent or guardian decides both. One rule is different here: you, or for under-18s your parent or guardian, can ask EVEC to take an article off this website at any time (see our Terms of Use).
Can I write for Volunteer Voices?
Yes, if you are a volunteer in the EVEC Volunteer Academy. Each week the Academy posts an article task with a theme on the Article writer card. Write in English, in your own Google Doc, and send the link from the Article writer card. Articles sent by email are not accepted. An adult on EVEC’s Academy team reads every article, and not every article is published. See how an article gets to Volunteer Voices.
Who is responsible for my sign-up details?
EVEC Athens, which runs both the Academy and volunteer.org.gr, is responsible for them as the data controller. Your details go straight to the Academy on evec.org.gr, and volunteer.org.gr does not keep a copy. The evec.org.gr privacy notice explains what the Academy keeps, who else receives Academy data (for example the company that hosts the Academy and the email service that sends its emails), how long it is kept and your rights. EVEC asks for as little as it can. For example, it asks only for the first letter of your surname, not the whole surname, and only for the month and year of your birth, not the full date. It never asks for your school, phone number or home address. A registration you never confirm is deleted after 7 days. An account unused for 24 months is deleted automatically, after one warning email 30 days before. Questions about your Academy data: academy@evec.org.gr. EVEC answers these requests within one month.
Can I leave or delete my account?
Yes, at any time, in the My file tab of the Academy. “I want to leave” closes your access and withdraws your agreement, but keeps your record. After leaving you can no longer sign in, so to have everything deleted, write to academy@evec.org.gr. “Delete my account” deletes your account straight away, and this cannot be undone. Work already published stays published, but your name comes off it if you ask. Articles in Volunteer Voices on this website can also be taken down if you ask. A few records without your name are kept for five years, as the evec.org.gr privacy notice explains.
Get involved
Ready when you are
Aged 15 to 17? A parent or guardian registers you. The sign-up form is for people aged 18 or over.