Solidarity fund

The deadline for applying to the Solidarity fund passed on 6 July. The deadline was announced on all relevant email lists and also posted on this homepage. It is still possible to make to make a late application to the Solidarity fund but we can no longer guarantee support according to the different categories that were previously set up.

However, we are working on finding additional funds that will make it possible to extend support to more groups. We urge all to contribute to this effort and, for instance, buy the pins found  here. In this way we can increase the international participation at this year´s ESF by supporting more people traveling from far away places with little funds to begin with.

The first allocation was based on negotiations with Central and Eastern European (CEE) cooperation-partners. There were different categories according to visa requirements and assessments of costs for accession travels and different levels of income in general. There are now four categories: CIS and CEE visa countries, Turkish visas, low-income groups from CEE countries and other categories from CEE countries.

Please note that broader coalitions who collectively organise transport and have been active in the process are prioritised. We have very little capacity to deal with individual applications but will do our best to facilitate contacts between different organisations within a country applying for support. We ask everyone to cooperate as much as possible on the domestic front.

Applications

Send your applications to the Solidarity fund to: enlargementgroup@esf2008.org.

For visa-assistance: contact Joel Borgström at: visa@esf2008.org or joel.borgstrom@esf2008.org.

Accommodation

For those who are receiving support for accommodation, we are providing mass-lodging in schools and gymnasiums. Please be aware that Malmo is a fairly small city and that cheap hotels and hostels are scarce. Solidarity accommodation in people's apartments will be very limited and only available for those with very special needs. Please register your group through the registration forms available on this website.

Budget and allocation

Together with cooperation partners we hope to enlarge the Solidarity fund to allow for more support. We call upon everyone to contribute to further efforts to enable further support for CEE participation.

The supported travel must be low-budget and preferably by bus, train or other collective transportation. Payments will made according to actual costs against reciepts or paid directly. We cannot pay more than a maximum of 100 euro for each participant for travel expenses.