VOLUNTEER IN THE OFFICE FOR LOCAL INITIATIVES IN ROCHEFORT
Looking for one volunteer
Trip type
City + Country
Rochefort, Belgium
Dates of the next project
From 1st April 2022 to 30th October 2022
Deadline to apply
24th of January 2022 (11:59 p.m.)
Due to the Covid-19 crisis, activities might be subject to modifications.
Hosting organization: Syndicat d'initiatives Rochefort

«Syndicat d’initiatives (SI)» is an organization of local interest, which aims are to promote and vitalize the territory. Their reach to the general public is done through three areas:
1. Event organization
During the year, SI has about 20 days of public events, most of them take place during the summer season. The most popular are:
- Le Carrefour BD – the comic books festival that celebrates this special art form holding meetings and talks with local authors.
- Le Marché du rire – the laughing market of Rochefort is part of the International Laughing festival that lasts up to three weeks!
- The Giant flea market.
- “The Serenades” – a music festival where young musicians have the chance to show their skills to the public.
- Le Rendez-vous – a local market and a place where artists gather to share their creations.
- La Balade Gourmande Nocturne – an avenue of local specialities followed by art shows and exhibitions (fire juggling, equestrian shows).
- Village du Noel – local Christmas market lasting for two weeks in December.
- Festival of Microadventures – a festival dedicated to the nature and microadventures. During two days, people can participate in conferences, workshops and masterclasses.
2. SI Info Point
The Info Point is the tourism office of the city open seven days a week during the entire year! Its purpose is to find and promote various events in the region not only for tourists but also for locals, since they try to promote youth camps, summer activities for children and in general, the cultural agenda of the region. The office also serves as a ticket sale point for the Laughter festival.
3. Tourist attractions in the city of Rochefort
- SI maintains 7 hiking trails in the city and around 30 in the surrounding area. They occasionally participate in their maintenance (650 km).
- They operate the “little train” which takes tourists around the town in a 60 minutes guided ride.
- Under their responsibilities are the local swimming pool and a mini-golf course. The office is in charge of selling tickets and refreshments and providing safety info to visitors.
- Festival of Microadventures – a festival dedicated to the nature and microadventures. During two days, people can participate to conferences, workshops and masterclasses.
To be able to offer all the activities to the public, SI/tourist office collaborates with many organizations in Rochefort: the cultural center, the youth house, the International Festival of Laughter, the local development agency, etc…
They host several local volunteers during the year as a support to their work.
The target group of the organization are visitors of different age groups. Even though 65 % of the visitors are from Belgium, they accommodate to the needs of international travellers also.
Further information can be found on the website
Support organization: CBB
- Promote the project and link between local and the international networks;
- Support in the selection and preparation of European volunteers before arrival;
- Manage of administrative matters: budget allowances; support in the creation of the bank account and enrollment at the municipality; enrollment in insurance (if not done by sending organization);
- Prepare the activity agreement;
- Provide pedagogical support for the volunteer and the hosting organization: ensures the participation in the NA seminars; organization of auto-evaluation meetings for the volunteer and the hosting organization to reflect on learning outcomes;
- Handle practical arrangements: accommodation; information about health insurance system in Belgium; indications about French lesson possibilities; online language tool;…
- Create networking between all ESC volunteers of the hosting organizations we support.


The volunteer's tasks
The volunteers will have the opportunity to participate in various activities of the organization: administrative, cultural, logistic. First weeks will mostly consist in showing the volunteer all the activities the organization is working on, so that they can gradually participate more and more in all of them. The wide variety of tasks will allow the volunteers to find something that suits their interest and pursue it. The aim is to help the association in their daily tasks (at the ticket stands, in the tourism center and the attractions), and help with event organization, management of volunteers and outdoor maintenance tasks.
Activity 1: Event organization
The goal of this activity is that the volunteer fully participates in the creation and follow-up of events organized by SI in Rochefort.
- Taking an active part in meetings and reunions of events organization and planning from start to finish.
- Promotion of the events: creating a campaign to promote the event; creating posts for social networks; design and distribution of flyers in the city.
- Help set up the stages, boots and other physical objects during the events, which is 50% of the job of the volunteer.
- Participate in the events by helping in the ticket stands and refreshment corners.
Activity 2: Tourism office management
With active supervision of SI staff, volunteers will have a chance to participate in the daily tasks of the tourism bureaux
- Giving information and tips to tourists.
- Handing out brochures.
- Setting up and managing the souvenir stands.
- Updating the statistical data for the office.
- Answering calls and emails.
- Managing the ticket office.
- Creating the weekly agenda.
- Managing social networks.
Activity 3: Seasonal help in the recreational areas
SI operates the swimming pool (destroyed during last July’s floods in Belgium, might not be operational next season) and a mini-golf course in Rochefort. Some of the volunteer tasks will be helping out with ticket sales, reservations management and giving out information to visitors during the opening days of the attractions.

Activity 4: Logistics and maintenance
Helping out with animation of other volunteers and the general public. SI has in their responsibility numerous hiking paths around Rochefort and one of the occasional tasks will be cleaning them, rebuilding and painting the signs, creating pallet furniture, etc..
Volunteer gatherings and activities will be planned in order for the European Solidarity Corps to gain visibility and encourage cooperation between local associations through cultural events. This experience will allow the volunteer to enlarge their cultural and social scope, improve his teamwork skills, learn and discover cultural activities, practice French and spend time taking care of instruments, organizing events and taking care of the communication for the organization.
Collective activities with other ESC volunteers
The European Solidary Corps volunteering activities within Compagnons Bâtisseurs are part of an ESC group project that aims to increase European awareness among youth in the town of Marche-en-Famenne and to maintain a close collaboration among the local youth services. For that reason, some activities will be run with other ESC volunteers (hosted by other local youth organizations). It will be asked to all the ESC volunteers in Marche-en-Famenne and from nearby towns around to regularly join collective activities as co-animator or participant of CBB activities like environmental volunteering days and week-end and summer workcamps. The volunteers will work together especially during special events organized once a year in Marche-en-Famenne: intergenerational events, youth services opening day…. The volunteers will help prepare and follow-up these events. In some occasions, they could hold an information stand presenting ESC program and youth exchange opportunities. They could organize a “European night” in the local youth house and to present therefore their country and traditions.
Accommodation in Rochefort
The project takes place in Rochefort, in the Belgian province of Namur (Walloon region). It is a small town of around 13.000 inhabitants with an active cultural center, a youth center, a library, a swimming pool during summer, a few bars and historical landmarks, and some shops.
The region is famous for its stunning nature and numerous caves that visitors can explore. More than 70 marked hiking trails are open for exploration.
Nevertheless, the closest train station (Rochefort-Jemelle), 5 km away from the town, is on the main train line between Brussels and Luxembourg, both less than two hours away by an IC train. Buses run every day, though on Sunday they are less frequent. The volunteer must be aware that rural areas in Belgium are not very well connected, but Rochefort remains close to the nearby areas. Marche-en-Famenne and Dinant are the closest towns. Bigger cities close by are Namur, Bastogne and Liège.
The volunteer will live in the small town of Marche-En-Famenne, a 17 000 inhabitants town in the province of the Belgian Luxembourg. This unique situation will allow the volunteer to share the semi-rural life style of the area, but also to meet young people coming from different realities and horizons.
The town offers all modern facilities (shops, supermarkets, sports centre, cinema….).
The volunteer will be in contact with other ESC volunteers being hosted in other projects in the municipality.
For the urban-life-style-lover, it is however IMPORTANT to note that our town is located in a semi-rural area. Even if it is not far away from the biggest Belgian cities (57 km from Liège, 106 km from Brussels, 47 km from Namur) and well connected by train, Marche-en-Famenne can sometimes look remote and very quiet.


The country - BELGIUM
Squeezed between the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and France, Belgium is one of Europe’s tiddlers.
The north is flat, the south dominated by the picturesque Ardennes and the 65km North Sea coastline monopolized by resorts, except for a few patches of windswept dunes. The 4 seasons are well divided, cold and white winter and warm and sunny summer… But be ready to grey sky at least a half part of the year.
But the Belgian population is usually warm. A lot of cultural and free events in the street happen during the year, which can make your journey in this country fun and resourceful.
This project will be taking part in the south of the country which is French speaking. Be therefore ready to learn and speak French! Especially in this project involving kids.
- Specialities : FRIES, BEERS and FESTIVALS
- AREA: 30,518 sq km
- POPULATION: 11.492.641 million
- CAPITAL: Brussels (pop: 1.212.352)
- REGIONS: Flanders (North), Wallonia (South), Brussels – Capital
- COMMUNITIES: Flemish-, French- and German-speaking community
- LANGUAGE: Dutch (±59%), French (±37%) and German (±1%)
- CURRENCY: Euro
Practical arrangements
Working Hours
Working days will be from Monday to Friday. The volunteer will work no more than six hours per day, but it can also involve occasional participation in the evenings and weekend events according to the schedule of the activities SI offers during the year. Five days per week will be worked on average. Days off will compensate for the extra shift hours if necessary, to keep an average of 38 hours a week (French lesson included). The volunteer will generally have two consecutive free days per week except for special events and has the right to two days of holiday per month.
Accommodation
The volunteer will have a private room in a fully-equipped shared house in the city of Marche-en-Famenne, a nearby town, with other ESC volunteers. The travel costs from Marche-en-Famenne to Rochefort will be covered.
Food
The volunteer will receive a budget and will take care of the meals on their own.
Pocket Money
Participation in the European Solidarity Corps is free of charge for the participant, except for exceptional contribution to travel costs. The volunteer will receive free board and lodging during the whole activity. In addition, they will receive a small allowance (pocket money) for personal expenses throughout the duration of the activity, including holidays.
Insurance
All participants in cross-border activities have to be covered, throughout the activity period, by the obligatory insurance plan (CIGNA) set up by the European Commission. This coverage is only complementary to the mandatory coverage of the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), which must be obtained prior to departure. In certain cases, when national rules deprive participants of coverage under EHIC for the duration of the placement, CIGNA will provide full coverage. However, participants must provide proof that obtaining the EHIC in their case was not possible and they should contact their National Agency (NA) in order to seek tailored advice, for their specific circumstance. The participant must read carefully the insurance-related information found online here.
Language course
OLS+ French lesson: an online language course is provided as part of the project support from the Commission allocated on the basis of a level test to complete before the activity starts. The volunteer is also encouraged to join free French lessons given in the municipality or around. It is recommended that the participant starts practicing French prior to their arrival in Belgium and that they participate in as many activities as possible in order to get better at the language.
Profile of the volunteer
- The age requirement to take part in the ESC program: 18-30 years old
- Prior to departure, the volunteer should be in contact with a support (sending) organization in order to receive information and preparation. Lookup for a support organization in your region via this link: https://europa.eu/youth/volunteering/organisations_en
- Our project is open to anybody motivated by volunteering and who wishes to be involved in the organization and working in the field of tourism and community development, regardless of their nationality, religion, believes, diploma, professional experience.
- As the activities of the project will involve working with different age groups, organizing and follow-up of events, contact with a lot of people and some administrative activities, we expect the volunteer to be very motivated to join the activity, to be open-minded, creative and pro-active about their project.
- The volunteer should not be afraid of a rural environment and spending time outside; to appreciate the contact with nature.
- Because most of the tourists that visit the town will be French speakers, the volunteer is advised to have basic skills in French, to be able to fully engage with the activities and the lifestyle.
Anna, current volunteer at Syndicat D'Initiatives in 2021
Hello, dear volunteer!
Stop reading this if you are not interested in working and managing a tourism office, creating new projects and participating in events.
One year before, I was in the same situation as you are now. I am sure, you read the description of this volunteering project, but let me share my experience which is beyond this representation on the website.
These are the things that will not miss in my future CV:
I was part of the first Microaventure event in Rochefort, I was cleaning and driving tourist train, dancing in a costume of Schtroumpf during Carrefour BD, preparing stage and logistics for local bands and artists during summer, making tourist guide explanations for my friends, I met famous comedians on Festival du rire, serving Belgium beer in refreshment stand, checking and walking on beautiful hiking trails of the region, selling ice creams on swimming pool and minigolf (don’t be excited, after floods it’s closed for next season(s) and so much more…
Of course, not everything is perfect, so be ready to be self-dependent and prepared to leave your comfort zone from time to time. To be honest, I am writing this text during quarantine, because otherwise, I will not have time for it. If you ever get bored at work, believe me, you won’t experience this in the house with other volunteers. There is always space to fool around. 🙂
I hope you will choose the best project for you and spend the best time in a foreign country like me!
How to apply ?
Deadline: 24th January 2022 at 11:59 p.m. (Brussels time).
1. Answer the questionnaire below (NB: you will be asked to attach a CV at the end of the form)
2. In the frame of the new program of the European Commission, the European Solidarity Corps, you first need to create a profile on the new data base: https://europa.eu/youth/solidarity_en (“JOIN THE CORPS”).
3. Find the project and click on “apply” > HERE – To apply
4. (optional) if you’re feeling creative, please feel free to send us any additional material related to your application: esc@compagnonsbatisseurs.be
The application through the ESC portal and fulfilling the form are compulsory for us to take your application into consideration.
In the days following the 25th of January, the pre-selected volunteers will be contacted for a Skype interview.