Our project aimed to fill a clear and shared gap: volunteer mentors play a key role in supporting young people, but across Europe, they lack training, recognition and tools. We wanted to change that. We aimed to: - develop an online platform as a free and accessible resource for mentors and coordinators; - create practical guides and recommendations that reflect best practices from across Europe; - strengthen the digital and management skills of volunteer programme leaders to help them coordinate youth work more effectively; - promote social inclusion and improve youth employability through high-quality mentoring. To achieve these goals, we designed MP4Mentors as a practical and human-centred solution. We envisioned a multilingual e-learning platform with a 5-module training course, and a guide to support the full mentoring cycle from recruitment and onboarding to continuous feedback and emotional support. Our aim was to offer tools for reflection, communication and trust-building, while addressing common challenges like burnout and intercultural misunderstandings. At the heart of the project was a simple message: volunteering is not “free labour” but a strategic resource for youth development and mentors are the ones who hold it.
According to the European Commission, 20% of EU countries have no standards or regulation for volunteer mentors, even though 23% of citizens aged 15+ engage in volunteering (Eurobarometer). Without support for mentors, young people’s volunteering experience suffers. This gap was visible across all five MP4Mentors countries Sweden, Spain, Austria, Romania and Cyprus. Volunteering is part of youth policy, but the question “who supports those who support?” remains unanswered. Across all countries, we saw the same pattern. Sweden focuses on funding civil society, but has no structured approach to mentoring. Austria has a youth strategy, but no practical tools. Spain has a volunteering law, but not youth-specific. In Cyprus, over 50% of young people aged 14–35 have never volunteered. Romania adopted regulation in 2014, but it only addresses participation, not mentoring. Volunteering is present, but support systems for mentors are not. All partners recognised the same need: mentors play a key role in youth volunteering, but often lack training, support and recognition. MP4Mentors was created to respond to that gap to collect what already exists, develop simple tools, and make mentoring a visible and valued part of youth work.