Background Information
Introduction
EUFED is the Federation that represents the interests, at European Union level, of the national Youth Hostel Associations of Europe, and the young people who stay at Youth Hostels.
There are currently 18 European and acceding and candidate countries represented within EUFED (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Serbia & Montenegro, Switzerland and the United Kingdom). At present, Youth Hostel Associations within EUFED, taken together, account for:
- 1,800 Youth Hostels across Europe,
- About 2,8 million members (many of whom are young people),
- About 24 million overnight stays within Europe.
The Youth Hostel network across Europe provides safe, secure, welcoming and affordable accommodation for hundreds of thousands of young people in their travels. Youth Hostels are places where young people from diverse backgrounds and cultures can meet in a spirit of friendship and co-operation and develop their lives. The Youth Hostelling movement thereby fulfils a vital role in terms of facilitating youth mobility and promoting European integration.
Main Activities
EUFED was founded in 1987 and its main activities are:
- To promote the youth hostelling movement at the EU level, and thereby to gain financial and political support for the cause;
- To assist national Youth Hostel Associations to access EU funding, to help them in the development of their work;
- To facilitate on-going performance improvement within Youth Hostels. Staff training and environmental sustainability at Youth Hostels are two key areas in this respect. EUFED, with the support of the IYHF and national Youth Hostel Associations, was awarded funding from the EU to develop new training modules;
- Running European-wide volunteer exchange programmes for young people aged between 18 and 25, based at Youth Hostels, and with the financial support of the European Union;
- Assisting the national Youth Hostel Associations of the EU accession countries to make the most of the new opportunities arising from EU enlargement.
Executive Committee
EUFED is run by an Executive Committee, who are the elected representatives of the Youth Hostel Associations of the European Union. The Executive Committee comprises a President, a Vice-President and Treasurer and three Members. The Secretariat is based in Brussels.