ER Trainings FAQ
What trainings are currently required for volunteers?
All volunteers receive information and training necessary for their specific role and site. This process includes an introduction to Eurorelief through a tour, onboarding and series of trainings.
In addition to an online safeguarding course that must be completed before volunteering in camp, all volunteers will go through a series of trainings upon arrival. Short-term volunteers receive seven basic trainings spanning their first three to six weeks. These trainings cover the topics of Cultural Competency, Christian Worldview in the Humanitarian Setting, Refugee 101, Understanding Trauma, Safeguarding, Healthy Conversations and Professionalism and Interaction Guidelines.
Volunteers staying for 10 weeks or more may receive additional trainings:
Eurorelief’s history
“Walking a mile in their shoes” (loss simulation)
Vicarious trauma and self care
Specific roles require additional training such as coordinator/officer onboarding, leadership development and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Some departments such as Education and Social Care have an additional onboarding and training programme customised toward these roles specifically.
Why are trainings important?
Trainings are an essential part of Eurorelief’s work because they help volunteers understand their roles, work safely and confidently, and provide consistent, high-quality support to the people we serve. They also give volunteers a shared understanding of Eurorelief’s procedures, values, safeguarding principles and ways of working. For many volunteers, training is also an important opportunity to ask questions and learn from more experienced team members. Eurorelief welcomes volunteers from all walks of life, ages and experiences. The trainings bring volunteers together to a shared vision, mindset and understanding of the wider humanitarian context in which they are serving.
All volunteers are required to attend trainings, even those who are staying for a short time or who already have some background knowledge and experience. It is a privilege to volunteer inside refugee camps. As a humanitarian organisation, Eurorelief operates on the principles of do no harm. We are committed to serving with both excellence and professionalism. Sometimes even best efforts and kind intentions can do unintentional harm, so we teach our volunteers to approach the ever-changing work in camp with a mindset of cultural humility, a lifelong commitment to self-evaluation and self-critique. We learn about other cultures and start with an examination of our own beliefs and cultural identities. With more knowledge and an understanding of how to work in a multicultural environment, we are better equipped to serve the residents in camp.
Why do the trainings vary at different sites?
Eurorelief operates in different contexts, and the needs, risks, populations, partners and activities can vary from one site to another. For this reason, training cannot always be identical across locations.
Site-specific training helps ensure that volunteers are prepared for the realities they will encounter in their particular context. It also allows teams to respond to new needs or changing circumstances rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach.
Trainings also vary on different sites due to the different pace of work and team capacity. We are working to align each Eurorelief site and offering all the seven basic trainings at each location. Some sites start in crisis mode with small teams and only have capacity to offer essential trainings like safeguarding and professionalism. As the sites grow, the trainings expand.
Sometimes current volunteers will offer to lead trainings in their area of expertise. We always appreciate when our volunteers want to share their knowledge and experience with the team. What training might you be uniquely qualified to give?
What trainings are offered for Resident Volunteers?
For Eurorelief, Resident Volunteers (residents of camp who volunteer alongside us) are not only participants in our programmes, they are an important part of our team. Providing training to Resident Volunteers has benefits at both an individual and community level.
Trainings give RVs the opportunity to develop practical skills, gain experience in a professional and humanitarian environment and build confidence in their ability to contribute to their communities. We hope the knowledge and skills developed can be useful not only during their time with Eurorelief, but also in future employment, volunteering, education or community leadership opportunities. Being part of the volunteering team can also provide an important sense of purpose and belonging. Rather than being viewed only as recipients of humanitarian assistance, RVs have the opportunity to actively participate in the response and contribute their own skills, knowledge and lived experience. This helps create a more inclusive model of humanitarian work in which people affected by displacement are also recognised as active contributors and decision-makers. For Eurorelief, investing in RVs therefore benefits everyone. The RVs gain skills, confidence, experience and opportunities; the wider team gains local knowledge and stronger community connections; and the people we support benefit from a response that is more inclusive, representative and grounded in their own experiences.
The following are topics of trainings tailored to participants of Eurorelief’s Resident Volunteer programme:
Professionalism in Western context
Cross-cultural competency and communication
Self care and vicarious trauma (for interpreters)
How do the trainings help us collaborate with other actors?
Training also strengthens Eurorelief’s collaboration with other organisations and actors. When volunteers understand common humanitarian principles, terminology, safeguarding expectations, referral pathways and professional standards, they are better equipped to communicate and coordinate effectively with partner organisations and local actors.
Shared training can be particularly valuable because it creates a common understanding between organisations and helps ensure that different actors are working toward the same standards and objectives.
We are grateful for good connections with many actors who have offered trainings to Eurorelief volunteers, both in the past and currently:
Fenix: refugee immigration legal system explained
Red Noses International: humour and team-building workshops
International Organization for Migration: protection from sexual exploitation and abuse
Boat Refugee Foundation: de-escalation, psychological first aid, medical first aid
International Association for Refugees: literacy and refugee integration
Médecins Sans Frontières and UNHCR: trainings on vulnerabilities and female genital mutilation
What do volunteers get from the trainings?
Feedback from volunteers consistently shows that training is valuable not only because it gives them practical skills, but because it makes them feel more prepared and confident in their roles.
“I appreciated how clearly relevant and practical the training was. It helped me in being confident of all my actions and making sure I’m not doing something with good intentions that could indirectly harm someone in any way.”
Training can help volunteers:
Understand what is expected of them
Feel more confident when dealing with unfamiliar situations
Develop practical skills they can use both during and beyond their time with Eurorelief
Better understand the people and communities they are supporting
Learn from experienced colleagues
Ultimately, training is not just an induction requirement. It is an ongoing investment in our volunteers and in the quality, safety and effectiveness of Eurorelief’s work.
