FAQ – Vaak Gestelde Vragen
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 in furniture.
Serve the City Brussel kan geen donaties met speelgoed aanvaarden. We recommend you to check with Hub Humanitaire, Solidarité Grand Froid, Les Petits Riens or Oxfam.
Serve the City Brussel kan geen donaties met vrouwenkleding aanvaarden. We recommend you to check with Hub Humanitaire, Solidarité Grand Froid, Les Petits Riens or Oxfam.
Je kan de dag(en) kiezen die het best in jouw planning passen.
Je kan de dag(en) kiezen die het best in jouw planning passen.
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.
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.
You can cancel the event at any time. However, cancellations within 15 working days prior to the event will still incur 10% of the cost for the event. Cancellations within 5 working days will incur 25% of the cost for the event.
At any time, if any materials have been purchased by Serve the City for the event then the cost of these is paid by the organisation which contracted us to organise the event.
Any cancellation should be made in writing.
You can pay before the event if you wish to. You simply need to request the event manager to send you the invoice before. Beware that you cannot modify the invoice after the payment has been made.
You can pay by card using the link https://www.servethecity.brussels/pay
Any rescheduling should be made in writing, and include the new date. An event can be rescheduled for a maximum of 2 times within 3 months of the original date. If the event is not rescheduled, it will be considered cancelled and the cancellation terms will be applied.
At any time, if any materials have been purchased by Serve the City for the event then the cost of these is paid by the organisation which contracted us to organise the event.
If your company uses Benevity, we can create a project for your team so you can register the hours that you have volunteered with us in the platform.
Of course you can! Members of our team will also take pictures of your team during the event. If a member of your team does not wish to be featured in the pictures, they simply need to let our event manager know.
Beware that your pictures CANNOT include the faces of beneficiaries. If you would like to take a picture in which a beneficiary is visible, the beneficiary will need to openly express his consent.
We generally request a minimum time commitment of 70~80 hours for each project. However, this time may vary depending of the project. We will discuss the minimum and maximum number of hours in the first meeting, and modify them according to your needs during the project.
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.
We can propose corporate activities outside of Brussels, although an additional fee may be applied.
Not all the volunteering activities in this booklet can be proposed. Our team will study every request individually and provide you with a personalised offer.
No. We do not provide professional photographers. The pictures will be taken by members of our team.
Registrations for shifts on the app is compulsory for all our weekly projects and monthly volunteering opportunities.
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).
Je kan kiezen voor onze Wekelijkse Serving Opportunities, One-on-One projekten, Maandelijkse Events of the Big Volunteer Week.
Voor onze Wekelijkse Serving Opportunities kan je gewoon een e-mail te sturen naar de projectleider die je terugvindt op de website. Voor onze Maandelijkse Events en the Big Volunteer Week kan je je een paar weken voor het event online aanmelden.
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”.
We can provide you with a certificate proving your engagement with our organisation.
You can find a detailed explanation on how to create an account and use the app on servethecity.brussels/servenow.
The size of your group and the type of activity will determine the delays for contacting our team. The delays proposed are thought to ensure a high-quality event.
- Up to 20 people, we advise you to contact us no less than 1 month before the event.
- Up to 50 people, 2 months are recommended.
- For bigger groups, the planning must start at least 3 months in advance.
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.
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.
Ja! We organiseren een aantal keer per jaar een training om projectleider te worden. Onze volgende trainingen vinden plaats op 25 februari, 6 mei en 4 november
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.
Als je jonger bent dan 18 jaar moet je begeleid worden door een volwassene/voogd om deel te nemen aan Serve the City-projecten.
- Ouders/wettelijke voogden kunnen met hun kinderen meekomen (maar zijn volledig verantwoordelijk voor hun verzorging).
- Als de ouders/wettelijke voogden hun kinderen niet kunnen vergezellen, kunnen maximaal 2 tieners van 15 jaar of ouder begeleid worden door een volwassene van minstens 21 jaar oud met schriftelijke toestemming van de wettelijke voogden.
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.
If you are experiencing technical issues with the ap, please send us an email to feedback@servenow.app.
The Big Volunteer Week typically takes place each year towards the end of June or the beginning of July. Exact dates are here.
Big Volunteer Week is een week met vrijwilligersprojecten over heel Brussel. Honderden vrijwilligers van over de hele wereld nemen hieraan deel om mensen in nood te dienen.
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
If you would like to volunteer as a team with us for a full day, you will need to book two half-a-day activities.
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.
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. So please feel free to attend one of our information sessions and our Project Leader will be able to provide you with information on projects that suit your schedule.
If you are planning to be more participants than the planned in the offer, please, check with the event manager if it is possible to modify the number of participants at least 3 working days in advance.
There may be activities where the maximum number of participants CANNOT be exceeded.
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).
Serve the City is a non-profit organisation with limited governmental subsidies. Therefore, any surplus left after the cost of the day (organisation and supplies) will be used to further support Serve the City and its activities in Belgium, through supplies, volunteer coordination and partnerships.
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.
Yes. If your company insurance does not cover your participation, you can benefit from Serve the City’s insurance.
Onze projecten zijn over heel Brussel verspreid. De wijken waar we vooral zitten zijn: de Marollen, Schaarbeek, Sint-Katelijne (Sainte-Catherine), Elsene, Etterbeek, Sint-Gillis, Anderlecht en Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe.