The Lisbon 2023 World Youth Day (WYD) Foundation and the Santander Portugal Foundation have established a partnership to offer 200 grants to support volunteers who come to participate in the preparation of the largest gathering of young people from around the world with the Pope. 

Each grant will be worth 750 euros and will aim to support those who wish to participate as volunteers in the organization and preparation of WYD Lisbon 2023 between May 22th and August 14th. Applications are open until April 30th and should be submitted through Santander's platform here.

The grants are intended to help volunteers pay for expenses related to transportation, food, and other costs that arise while working to help with the organization of WYD. This will provide them with the unique opportunity to develop professional skills in the context of event organization. The expenses for the third month of volunteering will be borne by the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation (Fundação JMJ Lisboa 2023).  

Candidates must be aged 18 or over, have a good knowledge of one of the five official languages of WYD Lisbon 2023 (Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and Italian), and must be available for eight hours a day between May 22th and August 14th, which includes the period during which WYD will be held in August.

Candidates will be able to choose one of the following areas of work: Welcoming & Volunteer Department (Pilgrim Support & Site Management), Communications (Design, Media Relations, or Content Creation), Finance (Bank Reconciliation), Logistics (Site Management, Assembly, and Structural Maintenance), or Pastoral Care (Artistic Performance Direction and the Youth Festival).

Of the grants given to volunteers, 90% will be for Portuguese citizens and 10% for foreign candidates. The selection and seriation of candidates in all phases will be the responsibility of the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation.

For Inês Oom de Sousa, President of the Santander Portugal Foundation, these grants "will help volunteers to live a unique experience, certainly unforgettable, getting to know inside out the organization of one of the world's biggest events and coming into contact with people from the most different countries and the most diverse cultures".

According to Inês Oom de Sousa, President of the Santander Portugal Foundation, these grants "will help volunteers to live a unique experience, certainly unforgettable, while getting to know the organization of one of the world's biggest events inside and out, and coming into contact with people from the very different countries and diverse cultures."

According to the WYD Lisbon 2023 Foundation Human Resources Team, awarding these grants is an important form of assistance to help mobilize young people who wish to volunteer full-time for this momentous international gathering with Pope Francis.

More information and regulations are available here.

[Updated on 5 May 2023]