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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:
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1,800
Youth Hostels across Europe,
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About
2,8 million members (many of whom are young people), and
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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.
EUFED
was founded in 1987 and its main activities are:
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To
promote the youth hostelling movement at the EU level, and thereby to gain
financial and political support for the cause;
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To
assist national Youth Hostel Associations to access EU funding, to help them
in the development of their work;
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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;
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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; and
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Assisting
the national Youth Hostel Associations of the EU accession countries to make
the most of the new opportunities arising from EU enlargement.
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 four Members. The
Secretariat is based in Brussels.
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