Frequently Asked Questions
If you would like to bring your children along to participate in volunteering, we recommend that you attend a Big Volunteer Day, this is held once a month on a Saturday afternoon. It is recommended not to bring children along to weekly projects.
We have projects all around Brussels, but the main neighbourhoods we are serving in are: Marolles, Schaerbeek, Ste. Catherine, Ixelles, Etterbeek, St. Gilles, Anderlecht, Woluwe-St-Lambert.
Yes! We organise trainings for project leaders a few times every year. You can check our website to look for the upcoming training session.
Yes. If you are available to commit to at least 3 months for a part or full time internship, please contact us. Please note that at this stage we are only able to offer unpaid internships.
Yes, we appreciate any financial support that donors are able to provide so that we can continue to serve those around us. Click Here for details on how to give.
In short YES!
In long:
Serve the City is since 2020 (and at least until 2025 included) a nonprofit recognised by the FPS Finances. Every donor who pays taxes in Belgium and donated to us 40 € or more during the year 2021 will receive a tax reduction of 45% of the total amount donated (e.g. if you donated to us 100 € in 2021, you will have a tax reduction of 45 €).
But to be able to do this, we do need your physical address, or we can’t deliver the receipt, so make sure to fill it in the form above.
All tax deduction attests will be sent during the first trimester of the next fiscal year (e.g. for a donation made in 2021, the attest will be sent during the first trimester of 2022.
More information from the FPS Finances can be found here (in French).
Serve the City Brussels is not able to intermediate donations consisting in furniture.
Serve the City does not accept men’s clothing. We recommend you to check with Hub Humanitaire, Solidarité Grand Froid, Les Petits Riens or Oxfam.
Serve the City Brussels is not able to intermediate donations consisting of toys. We recommend you to check with Hub Humanitaire, Solidarité Grand Froid, Les Petits Riens or Oxfam.
Serve the City Brussels is not able to intermediate donations consisting of women’s clothing. We recommend you to check with Hub Humanitaire, Solidarité Grand Froid, Les Petits Riens or Oxfam.
It is always an asset to be able to speak multiple languages, however, it’s not essential for many of our projects. There are some projects that do require other language proficiency, so please check out our website for specific project requirements.
Registrations for shifts on the app is compulsory for all our weekly projects and monthly volunteering opportunities.
You will see all the shifts you are register for on the Home page on the app. You can cancel your registration for the shift by clicking on it and then, on the button “Cancel”.
You can join our Weekly Serving Opportunities, One-on-One projects, Monthly Big Volunteer Days or the Big Volunteer Week.
For our Weekly Serving Opportunities, we invite you to come to one of our information sessions where you will get to know us better and ask us questions about projects that interest you. After the session, you will receive a list with all the projects and the contacts of the respective project leaders. You can then send an email to the project leader to ask about further details. For our Monthly Events and the Big Volunteer Week, the registration is online a few weeks before the event.
You can find a detailed explanation on how to create an account and use the app on servethecity.brussels/servenow.
We recommend that you allow 1-2 weeks to hear back from your new Project Leader. If you have not heard from them by this time, please email us at hello@servethecity.be to let us know.
Project leaders are volunteers that answer project requests during their free time. They may take some days (even a week, sometimes) to answer your message. Please, be patient.
If you have not received an answer from the project leader after a long wait, please contact us to hello@servethecity.be.
If you are under 18 years of age you will need to be accompanied by an adult/guardian to participate in Serve the City projects.
- Parents/legal guardians can come with their children (but are fully responsible of their care)
- In the case the parents/legal guardians cannot accompany their children, up to 2 teenagers of 15 of age (or more) can be accompanied by an adult of at least 21 years old with the written authorisation of the legal guardians.
If you still see the button to the volunteer orientation although you have already done it, please contact us to hello@servethecity.be.
If you can see the button allowing you to contact project leaders but an error message appears, please contact us to feedback@servenow.app.
Definitely, we really encourage people to use their natural giftings and talents to serve with us. When you attend an information session, please tell the Project Leader what skills you have and your interests and we will be able to match you up to any relevant projects.
No, you don’t have to. You can choose the day(s) that suit(s) you best and sign up for shifts accordingly.
No, you don’t have to. You can choose the day(s) that suit(s) you best.
Serve the City was founded on the ethos of ‘serving like Jesus’, however, is not a religious organization. Our projects are open to people from all different backgrounds and faiths and we welcome everyone to participate in our projects.
If you are under 18 years of age you will need to be accompanied by an adult/guardian to participate in Serve the City projects.
- Parents/legal guardians can come with their children (but are fully responsible of their care)
- In the case the parents/legal guardians cannot accompany their children, up to 2 teenagers of 15 of age (or more) can be accompanied by an adult of at least 21 years old with the written authorisation of the legal guardians.
If you are experiencing technical issues with the ap, please send us an email to feedback@servenow.app.
Here at Serve The City, we welcome first-time volunteers, as there is no better time to start than right now.
Yes, we welcome everyone who wants to serve to be involved in our projects. We have lots of different projects to choose from, mornings, during the day, evenings and even weekends. You can check all our volunteering opportunities (and register for shifts!) in our app ServeNow.
ServeNow is Serve the City’s app for volunteers. Thanks to this app you can:
- check our weekly projects and monthly volunteering opportunities,
- register for shifts,
- contact project leaders,
- and cancel your registration if a last-minute event comes up!
Download the app on https://www.servenow.app/ (available in both the Apple Store and the Play Store).
Big Volunteer Week is a week of serving projects taking place all around Brussels. Hundreds of volunteers from all around the world will join us to serve people in need.
We will organise serving opportunities allowing volunteers to serve alongside local associations who are assisting the needs of:
- Homeless
- Asylum Seekers
- Elderly
- Disabled
- Children in need
- Victims of abuse
Currently, we only accept the following in-kind donations:
- Books in Arabic, Tigrinya, Tigre or Dahlik.
- Food supplies for Breakfast4Refugees (please call for more information).
Unless specified otherwise at our events, we do not accept clothes or toys as we are not equipped to sort them through to bring them to the people who need them. We recommend you to check with Hub Humanitaire, Solidarité Grand Froid, Les Petits Riens or Oxfam.
English is enough for most projects, however knowledge of French and/or Dutch is often a bonus. However, certain projects that work with children or the elderly or in education require a certain level of French or Dutch. When it is the case, the project page indicates it.
The Big Volunteer Week typically takes place each year towards the end of June or the beginning of July. Exact dates are here.
You will see all the shifts you are register for on the Home page on the app. You can cancel your registration for the shift by clicking on it and then, on the button “Cancel”.
Individuals, school groups, scout groups, churches, companies, local and visiting volunteers – everyone who is looking for an opportunity to help someone in need, meet new people and make new friends. However, please note that you may not be assigned to the same project as your colleague if you come as part of a company / group. If this is a requirement, please have a look at our Corporate Volunteering page.
