BHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Bhagavat Educational Trust (BET) was founded in 1997 and has evolved over several years. Its ethos is to promote mutual assistance where by one marginalized group assists another marginalized group for the mutual benefit of both groups. BET has operated in several continents including Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe, promoting the concept of mutual assistance in each of these continents. This guide reflects the views only of its authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Partners, part of this project:

BHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST (Bulgaria)COSVITEC(Italy)MAGENTA (Spain)IZMIT MUNICIPALITY (Turkey)

Credits and the small-print

PublisherBhagavat Educational Trust

Contact admin@bhagavat.org.uk

Editors and text:

BHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST Paul Baron, Chief ExecutiveStefan Krastev, Bulgaria Operations CoordinatorGalina Kabadzhova, Psychologist and Career advisor

COSVITEC- Simona Puddu

MAGENTA- Esther González, Chief Executive

IZMIT MUNICIPALITY- Omer Kaya, Youth worker coordinator

Graphic layoutBHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST

PhotosBHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST

TranslationxxxxxxEnglish proofreadingBHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST

Copyright 2013For non- commercial use only!All rights reserved!

Acknowledgements

Content

The beginning

Case Studies

Quotes

Partners

12

3

5

67

Phases, Qualifications & SMEs

Evaluation, Monitoring, Dissemination

4 Conclusions

PrefaceThis guide has been written as a result of the “Mutual Assistance” TRANSFER OF INNOVATION PRO-JECT (TOI), funded by ECORYS the UK National Agency for the Lifelong Learning Programme, on behalf of the European Commission, lasted 2 years between October 2011- September 2013. Four partners become part of this exciting opportunity- BET (Bulgaria), COSVITEC (Italy), MAGENTA (Spain) and IZMIT MUNICIPALITY (Turkey).

BET wholly concurs with the aspirations of the EU 2020 strategy and believes that our ‘Mutual Assistance’ projects goes some way to assisting this strategy particular with reference to Education, Training and So-cial Inclusion. ‘Mutual Assistance’ is whereby one marginalised group assists another to the mutual benefit of both groups. This has manifested itself in our current ‘Living and Learning Abroad’ project where by marginalised groups from the UK (typically ex -offenders, former substance abusers, those in or leaving care) would assist orphans in Bulgaria and street children in Turkey.

The project is multifaceted, a group of 10 young people visit a new country, broadening their horizons, experiencing new cultures and traditions, learning a new language, attending a careers seminar and gain-ing a nationally recognised qualification in personal development, with the aim of improving their career prospects. In fact over the last 3 calls on average 80% upon their return progress to employment, educa-tion or volunteering.

In addition to assisting the young people from UK, we also assist the orphans and street children and their staff. Often the staff has improved moral and the orphans and street children feel less abandoned and more worthy in society.

We are a firm believer in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs embracing their enthusiasm while abroad, after witnessing the deprivation the young people from UK, appreciate far more the opportunities they have in the UK, they have far greater self esteem and confidence; referring to the project as a ‘Life Changing Experience’

The aim of the TOI was to transfer our ethos and ‘Modus-operandi’ to our partners in Spain and Italy adapting where necessary to their specific country requirements.

The purpose of this guide is to offer a comprehensive view of our project complimented by best practice from our partners; the aim being to impart sufficient knowledge enabling future implementation.

We have adopted a Chinese proverb ‘It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness’ we very much hope that with your support this candle will develop in to beacon, for all of Europe to benefit!

Paul Baron MBE

1Th

e be

ginn

ing

It has made a huge dIfference on my lIfe. It’s helped me make up my mInd on what I want to do In my future.

Sean MccaffertS, 23/01/2010

“”

Bhagavat Educational Trust (BET) was

founded in 1997, its ethos being the promo-

tion of mutual assistance; that is, whereby one

marginalized group assists another marginal-

ized group for the mutual benefit of both groups.

BET has operated in several continents includ-

ing Asia, Africa, Australia and predominantly Eu-

rope.

We endeavour to work very closely with other

organizations in order to facilitate the dissemina-

tion of knowledge and to avoid duplicating costs,

whilst applying business principles to maximize

our scarce resources.

Within the Europe 2020 Strategy, Member States

agreed to work together to meet targets in the

fields of education, employment & social inclu-

sion. Here at BET we seek to adhere to these

principles as means of helping deliver higher lev-

els of employment, productivity and social

cohesion amongst project participants. The 2020

strategy calls for improvements in education &

human capital: “In a rapidly changing world, lifelong learning needs to be a priority–it is the key to employment, economic success and allowing people to participate fully in so-ciety”

This underpins the guiding principles of our pro-

ject, allowing opportunities for social & European

inclusion to disadvantaged young people, who

without BET would have remained disengaged

from society & lifelong learning BET fully agrees

with the aspirations of the EU 2020 strategy and

its objectives for which we feel the project helps

address the first 3 - employment, education, so-

cial inclusion.

We have adopted a Chinese proverb “It is better

to light a candle than curse the darkness‟ BET

believes that for each hosting organization and

sending organization that participate in the pro-

ject a candle is lit, the young people referring to

the project as a “Life changing experience”.

Initially BET operated in India, instigating pro-

jects for Street children in Bhopal, making school

desks and benches. Similarly, in Uganda a pro-

ject was also established for street children to

produce educational learning aids such as

wooden jigsaws and abacuses for distribution by

the Ugandan Government. In Europe, BET es-

tablished a Mutual Assistance project in Bulgaria

named “Help Today, Hope Tomorrow”. This pro-

ject encourages larger social homes to produce

essential items for orphanages such as beds

and mattresses, as well as training residents of

these institutions to make and sell crafts such as

Christmas cards for retail.

During 2004 BET became the official partner

to the Prince‟s Trust in Bulgaria, where by BET

would host under its mobility project „ Living and

Learning Abroad‟ marginalized and socially ex-

cluded participants from the UK consisting of ex-

offenders, former substance abusers and those

in or leaving care to name a few. The teams con-

sisting of 10 young people and 2 team leaders

would assist an orphanage in Bulgaria or more

recently street children in Turkey

Our target group from the UK consisted of NEETs

(Not in Education, Employment or Training) the

rationale behind this is demonstrated in the fol-

lowing facts:

Since the inception of this project, we have also

become the coordinating organization, facilitat-

ing such projects between sending and hosting

organizations.

Several innovations have taken place; in order to

assist the NEET‟s enter in to employment, edu-

cations and training to name a few:

○ Online resource centers○ Qualification in Personal Development

○ Careers seminars○ Sustainable SMEs in the hosting country

The project has received considerable acco-

lades, more recently BET has attained “Certifi-

cate in Mobility” and been awarded this transfer

of innovation project.

The results are very promising for the last two

completed years 82% and 84% respectively for

2009 and 2010 of the Young People have en-

tered in to Education, Volunteering or Employ-

ment after their participation on the project.

It is this project, with your cooperation, input and

improvements that we would like to transfer to

your country producing a generic guide for future

implementation.

HOW OUR PARTNERS DID IT....

In 2005 20% of young people were considered as being NEET’s.

Between 1997 and 2006 there was a 15% increase in unemployment for 16 – 24 year old.

The productivity loss to the UK due to youth unemployment is estimated at £10 a day.

The cost to the exchequer is estimat-ed at £20 a week in job seekers allow-ance.

Every year 70% of school age offend-ers enter in to the Youth Justice system.

There is a 72% chance of reoffending within 2 years of their release.

1 The statistical information is for when the project in Bulgaria started- 19972 CHILDREN OF BULGARIA (source: a BG site called Hope for Bulgaria http://nadejda.duh-i-istina.net/statii_decata.php )3 http://www.tbact.org/children%20neglected,%20abused%20and%20starved%20to%20death%20in%20bulgarian%20institutions.htm

Between 3 and 5 hundred children live on the street.

35000 children live in or-phanages.

45,000 children drop out of school due to financial diffi-culties3

A report by the Bulgarian Helsinki Commis-sion reveals 238 mentally disabled children in state run institutions have died in the past ten years and at least two-thirds of those deaths could have been prevented. Causes of death include starvation, infections as a consequence of poor hygiene, violence and lack of a medical treatment when needed.

The Bulgarian government during this time released only £1.25 a day per child on food. The money provided only one diaper a day per child. Because of the high inflation and corruption in the country the orphans living in the government orphanages live a very iso-lated and underprivileged lifestyle.4

Bulgaria1

Turkey 4

15

4 The statistical information is from 2010 when the project in Turkey started

Families today are struggling to cope with rapid and startling social change in Turkey.

Poverty, economical and social crisis, immigration, terrorism, violence, and mental illness have all contributed to having lots of children being placed in orphanages due to abandonment, child abuse or neglect.

The total of 18,495 youths between the ages of 0-18 live in orphanages.

About 3,000 families are currently waiting placement of their children

in orphanages.

There are approximately 88000 street children the majority being in

Istanbul.

While on the streets the children are subject to abuse, malnutrition

and assault.

wE HAVE SELECTED BULGARIA AND TURKEY FOR THE FOLLOwING REASONS:

2Ph

ases

, Q

ualifi

catio

ns &

SM

EsTh

e pr

ojec

t and

its

mai

n ph

ases

Phas

es,

Qua

lifica

tions

& S

MEs

Phases

Research and Partner Matching1Preparation2Placement3Post Project4

This phase can be split into two in light of the activities that take place simultaneously in the Sending and Hosting country.

Sending country

In the sending country it is imperative we enlist the appropriate UK partner. We use referrals from existing partners, including such sources as the Charity Commission, the YMCA network, and organisations that provide supported ac-commodation for homeless young people. If the potential partner is interested – we would ar-range for a representative of ours to visit them, where possible it is best to also have the chance to meet with a sample of the young people they work with.

On this visit the suitability of the UK partner is assessed; also the UK partner checklist is com-pleted by the BET representative undertaking the visit.

A Letter of Intent and an Organisation Profile are compiled, and constant contact is kept be-tween the UK partner and BET.

The UK Partner Information Pack is a useful document which we advise our partners to read carefully. We would also provide the sending or-ganisations with links to our website and informa-

tion regarding the necessary paperwork; please find here an example Step 1 7. Evolved through previous projects is a large network of partners who do re-occurring team challenges due to the benefits received from the project.From the outset UK partners are made aware of our ethos & modus operandi. The duties, rights and responsibilities of both BET and the UK partner are clearly identified in our UK Partner Information Pack. Should it be considered that the UK partner or their prospective young people would not benefit - other areas of cooperation are explored i.e. UK volunteering, etc.

After matching with a suitable UK partner the next important step is recruiting suitable participants through the UK partner. We assist the UK part-ner with advise, guidance as well as materials such as Presentations and Recruitment Posters and links as indicated above. Once the UK part-ner is fully aware with the regulations and the project we ask them to sign an agreementThe selection of young people is in close coop-eration with the UK partners and aided by an application form to determine their suitability; selection days and short interviews are often or-ganised. It is important young people feel they have been selected & demonstrate the required motivation to warrant this selection.If the project is not suitable for the prospective young people they are sign posted onto another organisation, i.e. UK volunteering, rehabilitation

Research and Partner Matching1

A further important element is to ensure the pro-spective participants are familiar and fully accept the objectives and ethos of the project, they are required to sign an agreement, which clearly iden-tifies BET’s and the participants rights, obligations and duties.

Hosting country

During the same phase in the hosting country our host partner (an organisation that works with a number of social institutions in their country – cur-rently a large NGO in Bulgaria and a local author-ity in Turkey) would research a number of social institutions and arrange to visit the ones that have been assessed as appropriate. Choosing the most appropriate social institutions and where to host a future group is a comprehensive process, which involves analyses of a number of factors, includ-ing: target group, motivation of staff and director, living conditions, location, infrastructure in the area, distance to accommodation, etc. We have found that the orphanages requiring the most as-sistance are often rurally located which naturally leads to logistic problems, with reference to locat-ing suitable accommodation that complies with our health and safety requirements and also ar-ranging suitable transportation. All these however can be resolved with appropriate planning.

During the visit to the social institutions a number of forms is also completed, including: Orphanage Initial Questionnaire (including details about the institution and the type of activities participants could undertake there. The form is completed for you as an example), Overseas Risk Manage-ment Form (Health and Safety), Accommoda-tion Checklist. It has also proven useful to have an agreement signed by the Host Partner and the

actual hosting social institution – this does not need to be in any specific format, but it is good to have it for both parties – the social institution can show higher authorities that they take care of the legal side of things and the interests of their target group, from the NGO side this is also beneficial as it documents the right and responsibilities of each party (Orphanage Agreement).During the visit to the social institution our host partner would also take plenty of pictures and vid-eos, which would later contribute to the resource centre. Please refer to the link Turkish Step 1 (or Bulgarian Step 1)

This is a crucial element to the overall success of the project as this stage fully acquaints the par-ticipants with the project, familiarizing them with the host country, preventing premature returns to the UK.

During this phase to assist with the sending country participants recruitment, we continue to direct the organisations to the following link (tak-ing Turkey as an example) Turkish Step 1 in or-der to minimise the steps necessary all the initial information they require are contained in the link including:

Once the organisation have confirmed they are interested if they have not already done so will at this stage complete and send to us the following documents:

Letters of intent Organisational profile Basic Enrolment forms

Once we receive the completed Basic Enrol-ment forms this allows us to then agree the dates with the hosting partner and book flights and transport to the airport. We book flights us-ing a travel agency, as this minimises certain risks as name changes which are often expen-sive.

Our next step is to consider the reservation stage, again and in order to minimise adminis-tration we have used a link for this please refer to the following Reservation for further details here we include the following:

√ Links to our resource centre and the actual project (Videos, pictures etc are uploaded)√ Do you need to fundraise√ Invitations to our facebook groups (so communication can take place at peer to peer level)√ Information packs√ BET policies√ Posters√ Insurance policy

Preparation2

A guide explaining all the forms, if they are mandatory and how to send back. The learning record the participants will need to complete . Signed agreements (confirming individ-uals commitment to the program) Full group details (aiding the comple-tion of their profiles, also indicating such issues as medical conditions) Further policies such as drug policies. Details regarding criminal records. Checklist.

Risk Assessments and CRB checks (where nec-essary) are left to the discretion of the UK part-ner, furthermore the Full Enrolment Forms are crucial for creating an individual profile of each young person in addition to which, the forms in-form us and the host partner about any medi-cal or health issues pertaining to the participants and provide information about their socioeco-nomic background. A further advantage is that the forms assist the preparation of their CVs, also their expressed aspirations and desires can indeed lead to project adjustments including the contents of the careers seminar, introducing top-ics and activities that could be more suited to the participants. This ensures that each Mobility is tailored towards the needs of each group, en-suring that the participants derive the maximum benefit. Finally, the checklist should be received as confirmation of the readiness of the UK part-ner.Consequently the initial preparation will be adapted to the needs and ability of the group. A minimum of 36 hours with support provided by the accompanying people within the partici-pants‟ own community, including: self assess-ment to identify individual needs and preparing for the placement experience, encompassing intercultural games, action planning, research-ing the host country customs and traditions, lan-guage learning, living in the UK & what is Eu-rope? A complete learning exercise - forms the first part of our Learning record in preparation for the nationally recognised qualification. A visit is again arranged by a BET representative to give talks to the participants and answer queries, also young people taste the cuisine of the host coun-try, learning in an entertaining way, furthermore, they learn from peers who have already visited

and are encouraged to join our internet peer –peer forum (Facebook group). The pictures and videos prepared by the host partner (as indicat-ed in the links above) about the project and sur-rounding areas help to fully acquaint the young people and give them a sense of reality; compre-hensive info packs on each project and hosting country are accessible through the internet from our resource centres, which also include video language lessons.

It is also during this phase where we strongly advise the UK partner to organize activities and raise a minimum of £100 in sponsorship per member of the team, including team leaders (e.g. 10 young people + 2 team leaders = £1200) which they will use to purchase the materials for the placements abroad. This not only provides the budget for materials, but has numerous other benefits including encouraging the young people to plan ahead and be creative, encouraging the young people to take their participation on the project seriously, nurtures skills such as budget-ing, action planning, team building and entrepre-neurship. The fundraised budget

Resource Centers

Bulgaria Turkey

remains with the team leaders at all times often as the group are marginalised and with limited resources, the fundraising is important as it al-lows the participants to take ownership. More information in our Fundraising Guide.

If deemed necessary the UK partner can also organise a residential – a 2 or 3 day seminar involving all participants and team leaders, the aim of which will be to comprehensively prepare the participants and encourage team building.

Simultaneously in the hosting country our part-ner would be communicating with the social in-stitutions that is to host the participants, book ac-commodation, local travel and make all logistical arrangements for the placement, including study and presentation rooms, excursions, research places for purchase of materials, etc. Welcome packs with essential information and a timeta-ble included would be printed, in readiness to be distributed to participants upon arrival. The host partner also prepares the budget and emails it to BET.

In our back office the resource centres and wel-come page for this specific group would have been finalised, and work starts on preparing the CV for each participant in conjunction with their full enrolment form, Europass Mobility Documents and Bhagavat Certificates would be generated and printed and in general the Recognition Folder that is awarded at the end of the placement would be ready. Participants would have also been registered online to the EC Mobility Tool; and indeed reminders sent to join the project Facebook group. The budget

once agreed is also transferred to the host part-ner no later than 10 days prior to the placement.

Important

Please keep in mind that the preparation phase is absolutely crucial for the project. BET recommends that you pay special at-tention to it. Weak preparation can lead to many problems including unhappy par-ticipants, lack of discipline, drinking prob-lems, early returns culminating in an un-successful project

As soon as the group arrives in their host country they are picked up from the airport by the HostPartner and taken to the project venue.

Accommodation and meal arrangements vary according to the placements time and location, but in the general case participants are accom-modated in at least a 3* hotel chosen by the host partner and on which they undertake a compre-hensive risk assessment and an accommoda-tion checklist; ensuring that such accommoda-tion adheres to our minimum standards.

Due to the nature of the placement. i.e. “Team Challenge” we felt it was best that the whole group stay in the same hotel, rather than ac-commodating the participants in different flats around town. This would also not be possible due to the vulnerable nature of our participants and the need for supervision and support by the team leaders. Furthermore we always try and ensure the participants are on the same floor, with a member of BET staff remaining with the group 24/7. To ensure safety the fire escape in-structions are provided in the sending countries language, ashtrays, contents of the mini bar and telephones are removed.

The team of participants and accompanying people eat together during meal time in order to catch up and socialise. During the project we also provide the participants the opportunity for eating out, which many of them have not

experienced before due to their disadvantaged socioeconomic background. Lunch is normally organised at the social institution itself, allowing two different participants to be in charge of the preparation, purchasing and budgeting contrib-uting to the smooth running of the project, thus reinforcing participants‟ empowerment.

Apart from the mandatory logistical elements such as food, accommodation and transport, BET also provides all it‟s participants with a per-sonal allowance (pocket money) which varies according to the country of the placement and the overall placement budget. Allowances are handed over to the team leaders, who would than distribute them to the participants on a daily basis, ensuring a signed copy for receipt is re-tained.

Important

Placement3

“It was a big step for me as I am battling with drug addiction but I

have to say the people at BET and RV Projects were fantastic in their support of me. I have since moved out from my parents and I am liv-ing independently and I have went

back to college.”Karen Johnson , participant

The first day of the placement is dedicated to welcome meetings, orientation in the local area, reinforcing the rights and responsibilities, team building and activities exploring the issues of intercultural communication and identity. Lan-guage Learning is also an important topic of that first placement day. For further details please re-fer to the model timetable

The following day the group makes their first trip to the social institution hosting their place-ment, after an introduction by the director they would meet the residents (typically – orphaned children in Bulgaria or street children in Turkey) and have a thorough inspection around the place. After consultation with the director, prior-ity areas of work are identified, through a team meeting the actual work to be done by the team during the two weeks is identified. Typically in the past such jobs have included painting and renovating common areas such as corridors, entrances, stairs, playrooms, libraries and din-ing rooms – after some skimming a fresh lick

of warm, cosy paint would be applied, followed by murals, wall stencils and cartoon pictures. Other jobs have included gardening work, reno-vation of benches, gazebos and outdoor play-grounds. The interaction with the residents is also a central theme, several sports events or picnics are organized where everybody has fun together. Often we find that the staff of the in-stitutions are enthused by the project and con-tinue to paint morals on the windows to brighten the institutions.

A recent development has also been to intro-duce the concept of SME’s8 (small managed enterprises), where by BET with aid of the UK teams and the cooperation of the Hosting organization establishes workshops such as candle making, these items are produced and the items sold and the funds reinvested in the project. The participants learn new skills ori-entated towards entrepreneurship, including selling items, costing and pricing etc.

BET provides a representative that speaks the host country language accompanying the group 24/7; acting not only as interpreter, but also mentor, social worker and coordinator, this person has a wealth of experience and is totally familiar with the needs of the partici-pants.

Debriefing sessions are held at the end of every day, this allows discussion of events, progress and work distribution, but more im-portantly it allows participants to raise issues and concerns, preventing little problems grow-ing bigger.

Excursions are organised so participants can learn more about the host country, meet it’s people and enjoy it’s culture – for instance to the UNESCO World Heritage Site Rila Mon-astery in Bulgaria or the magnificent historical Istanbul in Turkey.

From educational perspective we have adopted the blended learning approach as it gives par-ticipants an environment to learn more effective-ly. Taking into account the needs of the young people we mix different learning environments including face-to-face instruction (one to ones), group activities, work placement & vocational tasks (learning by doing), peer-to-peer learning as well as computer-mediated instruction (on-line researches & resource centres) & individual assignments to complete. Time is put aside for qualification work at regular intervals. As most of the participants are NEETs (Not in education, employment or training), we embrace their en-thusiasm while on placement and this manifests itself in the participants completing a compre-hensive learning record.

In the middle of the stay the careers seminar is held, where the participants not only learn about job searching, interview techniques and career progression, but also identify their desired next steps after they return home. Typically these have included joining a college or vocational course, finding employment in a certain sector or continuing with overseas or UK based volun-tary work (as an opportunity to learn and gain experiences). Alongside the relevant learning record units the young people complete the fol-lowing questionnaires: Bright future, Career Questionnaire and “Next steps Question-naire and Feedback” which our experts (a psy-chologist and a career advisor) utilise to make enquires and schedule appointments for them after returning home.

Towards the end of the second week the work is usually completed and a small celebration is organised for the orphans, who in turn organise a little farewell show for the UK participants, this is quite an emotional moment, media and local VIPs are often present.

Important

Due to the nature of our target group we have experienced some problem-atic situations with participants in the past – alcohol consumption, problem-atic behaviour, homesickness, etc.

Advice and guidance on how to deal with these can be found in our Deal-ing with Problems section of the Host Partner Information Pack.

Working hard in an orphanage in elin pelin, Bulgaria

The same evening in the hotel the final evalua-

tion takes place (this is undertaken using a vari-

ety of methods depending upon the group spe-

cifics and dynamics but also during this evening

the mandatory Participant Report that is required

to be sent to the National Agency together with

the final project report is completed), also during

the event the Recognition Folder is awarder to

each participant, containing the certificates and

documents already mentioned, plus the sum-

mary of appointments made for each individual

participant. It is also at this point where partici-

pants sign the Allowance Sheet. After emotion-

al speeches the farewell feast begins.

The next day the groups are taken to the airport

and depart home.

Each sEction containEd a sElEction of opEn and closEd quEstions, rElating to thE participant’s satisfaction rEgarding cErtain aspEcts of thE projEct, as rElatEd abovE. EcorYs providEd us with thE following abbrEviations, which will bE usEd as a mEans of Evaluation throughout this rE-port. participants wErE askEd if thEY wErE satisfiEd:

*to a vErY small ExtEnt (tvsm) *to a small ExtEnt (tsm) *to a high ExtEnt (thigh) *to a vErY high ExtEnt (tvhigh) *totallY accomplishEd (tot) *not applicablE (notapp)

* thE chart shows thE ovErall satisfactionrEcEivEd from thE host organisation of all Young pEoplE participatEd in thE projEct in 2012 . 0 0

28

37 35

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Tvsm Tsm THIGH TvHIGH T oT

Q9 Overall satisfaction regarding support from host organisations for practical arrangements

(PractHostSupp)

1

2

3

4

5

facts say it all...in ordEr to guarantEE proficiEncY and Effi-

ciEncY bhagavat conducts a rEsEarch as a mEans of undErstanding thE impact of thE pro-jEct on participants EvErY YEar. a quEstion-nairE was dEvElopEd bY our national agEncY EcorYs, and distributEd bY bEt, so as to gain fEEdback about what participants gainEd from thEir timE on thE projEct. thE rEports sErvE to sEt out thE rEsults of thE quEstion-nairEs, whilst also offEring an analYsis on our findings. in 2012 bEt hostEd sEvEral groups- in bulgaria and turkEY. owing to thE grEat rEsults wE havE EvErY YEar, bEt bEcomEs a cErtificatE holdEr, which not onlY shows trust and rEliabilitY, but also it’s also a rEcognition of thE succEssful projEct

In the host country within 10 days of the group departing the host partner would fill in the Final Statement of Expenditure and email it to BET UK, who would than authorize payment of a bal-ance if needed. All host partners are required to store the original invoices, receipt, tickets and all financial documentation relating to the group for a minimum period of 5 years (in case of an au-dit).

From the participants perspective – the place-ments are 2 weeks long. However – the actual duration of the project for an individual is in-definite, the support and advise offered in post placement phase is indefinite and this will con-tinue regardless of future Leonardo funding. An experienced member of staff assist with the post project phase and often becomes their mentor.

The follow-up phase focuses on participants:

Back at BET UK an evaluation meeting is held to assess the placement and the lessons learnt identifying further improvements; furthermore all paperwork is scanned to our secure server.

At relevant interval team leaders are contacted to provide updates with regards to participants‟ outcomes and status post placement, evaluation surveys including soft skills are completed, con-tributing to the final project report.

√ Reflecting on their European placement.

√ Gaining accreditation.

√ Following up on the next steps identified.

√ Attending appointments in the UK and starting employment.

√ Volunteering, education, employment or apprenticeship.

√ Communicating with participants on regular bases via FACEBOOK

√ Contacting them prior to after appointments

√ The young people return in their home country as AMBASSADORS- they share their experience and tell others about the project

Post Project4

facts say it all...

thE fEEdback quEstionnairE that hElps bEt to EvaluatE thE impact thE projEct has on Young pEoplE is sEnt to participants and complEtEd within thirtY daYs of thEm complEting thEir timE abroad. it was brokEn down into sEvEral sEctions rElating to diffErEnt ElEmEnts of thE projEct:

- PreParation; quEstions rElating to prEdEparturE prEparation, languagE lEarn-ing and qualitY of information rEcEivEd bEforE travElling, Etc.- content; quEstions about thE placEmEnt duration, activitiEs participatEd in and provision of EquipmEnt, Etc.- evaluation; thE participant’s ovErall satisfaction with thE projEct, its rElEvancE to thEir qualifications Etc. - certification; list of qualifications obtainEd during placEmEnt, including Eu-ropass mobilitY documEnts

- learning outcomes; focusing on post-projEct languagE skills, profEssional skills, sElf-confidEncE, futurE EmploYmEnt prospEcts Etc.- Practical arrangements; quEstions rEgarding satisfaction with thE grant pro-vidEd, transport arrangEmEnts, accommodation, pErsonal safEtY, Etc.

0 1

31

34

34

Q4 I feel more confident

Tvsm

Tsm

THIGH

TvHIGH

ToT

22

28

41

27

Q6 I am more interested in my training than before

Tvsm

Tsm

THIGH

TvHIGH

ToT

ovEr 90% of thE participants go back to school, collEgE or univErsitY or arE morE intrEstEd with thEir studiEs. thEY show motivation and willing-nEss to build a carEEr and stabilisE thEir livEs (data from 2012).

although thE rEmaining 10% do not progrEss into Education or EmploYmEnt, thE projEct still bEn-Efits and lifting thEm a tEar from bEing homElEss. this as a rEsult will allow progrEssion at a latEr datE

wE arE an advocatE of maslow`s hiErarchY of nEEds, bEliEving our projEcts touch all involvEd as maslow wrotE, `We are not in a position in Which We have nothing to Work With. We already have capacities, talents, direction, missions, call-ings.`

Qualifications and career seminar

The idea for the present qualification was born many years ago when Bhagavat Educational Trust realized how much the work skills are im-portant for the participants in the project for build-ing a career and also for making progression in the right direction. The lack of well-developed work skills is the barrier to further progression from poverty not only in UK but all over the world.

The target jobs for the young people that Bhaga-vat Educational trust is recruiting before the pro-ject are usually low –paid, low- skilled and in-secure jobs just because they couldn’t find the possibility to spend time developing their work skills and therefore gain better paid job. The rel-atively high concentration of such “job openings” offers very little hope for individual progression.

Bhagavat’s strategy was to embrace their en-thusiasm while on placement, emulating a true working environment, enlisting on a nationally recognised qualification and the career seminar. The most expedient way of doing this was to in-clude a career seminar in the middle of the pro-ject (the beginning of the second week). Often these participants being NEET’s had dropped out of education at an early age so it is crucial we

Our members consistently say that new recruits do not have the skills they need to enter the world of work,” says Richard Lambert, director-general of the employers’ body, the CBI. “Firms are having to spend time and money they can ill afford teaching new starters basic ‘work etiquette’.

Peter Kingston, The Guardian, Tuesday,10th February 2009.

“ “

embrace their enthusiasm while on placement and nurture their academic abilities adopting a blended learning approach.

In the 21st century the natural resource is the people, especially the young people. Bhagavat Educational Trust believes that their potential is untapped and vast and that helping those peo-ple to develop the work skills will only unlock this potential. The prize for this will be phenomenal- higher productivity, creation of wealth, social jus-tice. Without increased skills we are hindering the economic growth and declining the competi-tiveness. This is why Bhagavat believes that the case for action should be compelling and urgent.

The work skills in every single person can be de-veloped, practiced and used. Therefore the ca-reer seminar and the further qualification can be considered as a huge step in the right direction not only for the young people but for Europe as a whole.

Certificates

The career seminar and the qualification are a tool the young people can use to find better paid position and therefore a tool to further progress from poverty and make positive steps in their lives. CLICK ON ME...

The careers seminar initially was emphasiz-ing the possibilities that the young people have back home for employment, education or vol-unteering in UK or abroad.

The role of the Bhagavat team was to show the options, to discuss their dreams and desires and try to make appointments for every partici-pant for a job, course or for a volunteering pro-gram. Soon we realized how much more these people could be helped and along with the op-tions for employment we started to discuss with them the interview, interview skills and play mock interviews. The results were very prom-

ising. The young people not only helped those in need but also started to realize that finding a job is not simply something you do to pay your bills, but also a big step that leads to a career. The participants are offered the opportunity to be guided by a career advisor and work closely with a psychologist who assists them in nurtur-ing their career points.

After extensive research in the field it was de-cided to offer to all participants in the “Living and Learning Abroad program” Entry level 3 Diploma in Personal Development and Em-ployability.

The Career Seminar

CLICK ON ME...

wHY DIPLOMA IN PERSON-AL DEVELOPMENT AND EM-PLOYABILITY?

This very specific qualification from City and Guilds has been developed after extensive re-search and consultation with employers, training providers, schools and colleges.

Many employers want graduates with a positive attitude and wider employability skills to succeed in the workplace. According to many researches made in this field and according to Bhagavat the employability skills should include: general com-munication skills, team working, and positive at-titude these skills and more are gained through this qualification.

The aim of the course is to deliver the skills that will help people progress on their career path. The units build on the skills already taught in schools and colleges, and offer the opportunity to recognise these skills with a formal qualification. The qualification encompasses work placement, interview techniques, teamwork and vocational skills, as well as the soft skills that employers look for such as adaptability, eagerness to learn and a can-do attitude.

The participants taking this qualification can in-corporate City and Guilds in to their 2 week chal-lenge, adding a further work-related qualification to their CV and enhancing considerably their ca-reer opportunities.

The qualification is quite diverse and appeals to a number of different learners, both adults and 14- to 19-year-olds. Adult learners can include job seekers, parents returning to work, graduate trainees, offender learners, and people who are looking for a complete career change.

Why delivery Abroad?

The project requires participants to spend two weeks abroad, it is the desire of BET to put the young people in a fresh new environment, where they have better chances to develop their skills, study and gain confidence without the burden of

○ Self- assessment○ Working as a team○ Positive attitude and behaviour at work○ Searching for a job○ Applying for a job○ Preparing for an interview○ Interview skills○ Career progression

Our course includesthe following units:

negative past associations. While aboard, the participants are working with a Psychologist, Career advisor, Project Coordinator, qualified teachers and trainers, and personal guide- trans-lator who are at their disposal all the time. The experience that BET has in the field exceeds 10 years, accordingly over 80% of the participants upon their return enter into employment, training or volunteering. These facts can only motivate Bhagavat Educational Trust to continue sending participants abroad and not only that, but also enrol them on a course that helps them develop a better future.

The learning process abroad we believe is more successful for the young people for several reasons:

1_The young people are in a new environment; they don’t have any distractions and are helped to focus on the subject studied;

2_The project itself is an activity adapted to the course they are taking, which motivates them to practice what they have learned in real time;

3_They are surrounded by professionals in the field who are helping them nurture their skills and start to build a career in the area they desire;

4_ The participants are put in a non- formal envi-ronment, but still academic in nature, where they feel relaxed and supported by their teachers,

trainers and peers. The result of this way of de-livering is phenomenal. The results are actually what motivated BET to support this way of learn-ing and working with the young people;

5_The different atmosphere, the different culture and the different style of living the young people are placed in are motivating them to give a new meaning to their lives. They are in a position to help those that need help, while being helped, and this is what BET calls Mutual Assistance!

6_ After witnessing the deprivation of the or-phans or street children, participants appreciate far more the opportunities they have and are far more receptive to new ideas.

CLICK ON ME...

+info SME’s

facts say it all...

bhagavat Educational trust is promoting voluntEEring, Education and futurE Em-ploYmEnt opportunitiEs among Young pEoplE for ovEr 10 YEars now. it's our policY to EncouragE EvErYonE to pursuE a carEEr or find thEir own path. voluntEEring on a worldwidE projEct abroad providE manY bEnEfits for thE participants- hElps bring lEarning to lifE, opEns nEw opportunitiEs for thE Young pEoplE, shows thEm a diffEr-Ent rEalitY, hElps thEm dEfinE thEir carEEr path ...

taking 12 british (10 participants + 2 tEam lEadErs) voluntEErs off thE bEatEn track and lEtting thEm sEE first-hand thE issuEs facEd bY thE orphans in bulgaria or strEEt childrEn in turkEY, givE thEm a rEal insight into thE strugglEs of dailY lifE in anothEr rEalitY, so much diffErEnt than thE onE thEY livE in, EncouragEd thEm to put thEir livEs at homE into contExt. thEY livE 2 wEEks togEthEr in a local hotEl, sur-roundEd bY local pEoplE and bEt rEprEsEntativEs. thEY hElp rEnovating an orphan-agE and intEract with thE orphans; thEY participatE in a carEEr sEminar and undErtakE a qualification in Personal develoPment with thE furnEss collEgE.

0 0

2129

50

0 00

10

20

30

40

50

60

Tvsm THIGH ToT No answer

Q1 Overall satisfaction regarding recognition of my

Mobility

Tvsm

Tsm

THIGH

TvHIGH

ToT

NotAPP

No answer

0 2

3036

30

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Tvsm THIGH ToT

Q1 I learned new professional skills

Q1 I learned new professional …

The 2 weeks experience does noT only have a posiTive im-pacT on The social insTiTuTion or The local communiTy, buT also on The group dynamics and on The individuals Themselves. From The beginning To The end oF The pro-jecT we all noTiced a big leap in The parTicipanT’s con-Fidence, They gained new skills, They developed Their abiliTy To work in a Team, and They were shown and inTroduced To more volunTeering opTions and advised by a career specialisT:

The projecT wiTh bhagavaT allowed The young people To inTeracT wiTh marginalized groups in a way ThaT no oTher Travelling experience or projecT can. wheTher They are on a renovaTing an orphanage projecT in bul-garia (as This group did) or parTicipaTing in a work-shop For candle making For an example in Turkey, in boTh cases working TogeTher as a Team To improve com-muniTy FaciliTies, communicaTion skills or simply gain experience spending Time wiTh The locals in a social in-sTiTuTion, Their volunTeering experience gave Them an insighT inTo a culTure ThaT would jusT noT be possible by simply visiTing The counTry as a TourisT.

A further development of the project “Living and learning Abroad‟ has been to introduce business ethics in to the organizations. Capitalizing on ear-lier experience gained from running the “Help To-day Hope Tomorrow‟ project, SME‟s (Small Man-aged Enterprises) are being introduced, and the idea is for the enterprise to emulate a business.Typical examples of such SME‟s include Candle making in the Bulgarian Orphanage Elin Pelin and also with the Roma community in Izmit Turkey.The young people from the sending organization and the hosting organization will be encouraged to participate in making the candles and encouraged to participate in the costing and pricing of the items after considering all costs both variable and fixed overheads.A further element will be to assist with the market-ing of the items, packaging and presentation will need to be considered along with the most appro-priate outlets.Planning will also need to be given to production of the items for instance in the run up to Christ-

mas, appropriate items will need to be made such as Christmas cards etc.BET fully agrees with the aspirations of the EU 2020 strategy and its objectives for which we feel the project helps address the first 3 - employment, education, social inclusionOnce the items are sold, the income will need to be reinvested in to the project in order to cover fu-ture materials and contribute to overheads.

Each organization will have the opportunity to re-tail the items on the mutual assistance website.Thought will need also to be given to the organiza-tion and its young people, their resources, abilities and time availability of the staff. When the „Help Today Hope Tomorrow‟ project was run, the young orphans would take every opportunity to partici-pate in the project, nurturing their artistic abilities, several organizations reported that the project had a calming effect on the young people; often they would participate in selling the items themselves and even set up their own stalls.

SME’s

Items produced during the 2 weeks project

3Ev

alua

tion,

Mon

itorin

g,D

isse

min

atio

n

All the staff of BET are responsible for the monitoring and evaluation of programme activities. These activities allow us to continually appraise the project, seeking in-novative ways of improving and learning early mistakes that are being made and potential problematic areas. The following procedures are used to evaluate project activity:

Evaluation

Quality Group meetings are held with Bhagavat Educational Trust support staff to monitor the programme. The initial assessment process creates a profile of each participant involved, in conjunction with their Learning record.

We encourage team leaders upon return to the UK at relevant inter-vals to acquire feedback from the available participants measuring dis-tance travelled and recording positive outcomes; furthermore a random telephone survey of participants is undertaken at relevant intervals after the programme has finished.

Essential element of evaluation is to ensure that information is provid-ed & acted upon in a timely fashion. Daily reports are compiled from the de-briefing, where the day is evaluated & any problems - highlighted. Another key part of the ongoing evaluation are the meetings between BET representative, accompanying people and the host partner, in or-der to discuss the progress of the project and to identify any potential problems; such meeting is formally held once a week, and informally - as and when required, potential problematic areas are immediately drawn to the attention of the BET management staff.

During the final dinner, an opportunity is given to the participants and accompanying people to present their feelings and impressions about the projects, feedback forms are provided for the recording of this infor-mation, contributing to the final placement report.

Continual contact is maintained and feedback gathered with the par-ticipants via facebook.

BET continually searches for innovative ways of improving the project and evaluation is a crucial tool in implementing improvements & project ad-justments.

Validation of skills is one example where evalu-ation has assisted the project. BET wholly con-cur with the concept of encouraging participants through recognition of their non-formal learning, culminating in the awarding of the Europass Mo-bility Certificate. After participants’ evaluation it was realised that Europass is not that well rec-ognised on the UK labour market. Consequence of this evaluation was to introduce a nationally recognised qualification to further compliment the Europass.

The qualification is another invaluable evaluation tool ensuring the participants compare not only the host country with the UK, but their dreams, desires, attitude and behaviour prior to and after the placement.

Another typical example is the follow up activities for participants. Evaluation showed that approxi-mately 15% of participants choose volunteering abroad as their next step in life, and we have of-fered comprehensive assistance to such partici-pants through our wide network of partner EVS organizations as part of the post project phase.

To further supplement this - Bhagavat Educa-tional Trust has recently become an accredited sending EVS organisation in UK. This way we would be able to offer direct assistance with this very popular programme to all returning partici-pants.

In addition BET is also a partner in several Euro-pean projects, which offer overseas placements for the participants, as an example participating in an ecological venture in France for up to a year.

Evaluation also happens in an informal way on a continuous basis. Through the establishment of our online forum and through the constant post project contact with BET staff.

CLICK ON ME...

The progress of each participant is rig-orously monitored to ensure the project is delivered effectively and efficiently to meet the needs of each participant.

In addition to the dedicated member of BET staff, each participant is allocated a support worker responsible for monitoring the progress of the participant in the host country. This includes:

BET also operates an open door policy whereby our staff are always available to the participants and team leaders

At the end of each placement support workers in the host country complete a feedback form.

Accompanying people from UK monitor the placement and support the participant.On our projects there has always been ac-companying people with the participants - we would like to reiterate that BET targets

young people with high support needs for whom it is essential to be accompanied by accompanying people who understand and are sympathetic to their needs – pro-fessional, academic, personal and emo-tional.

As we are aiming at mixed-gender teams, an essential requirement is to have mixed-gender accompanying people, thus en-suring the young people do not get into unwanted situations while on their place-ment in Eastern Europe. Bhagavat Edu-cational Trust does this to ensure that participants receive the appropriate level of support they need and their progress could be suitably assessed.The qualification work is assessed by the external verifiers, which ensures inde-pendent and objective monitoring.

The participants are supervised constantly while on the placement; at no time for in-stance will a participant or accompanying person be allowed to be on their own with the vulnerable children in the orphange. The director and staff of the project, the host country staff, the accompanying peo-ple and staff from our organization ensure this.

Monitoring

√ Liaising with supervisors of the work placement√ Daily meetings to discuss progress informally√ Formal review meetings once a week√ On-going work to complete their Individual Learning Record

CLICK ON ME...

BET disseminates the project at various levels including local, national and inter-national. Examples of local dissemination include:

From past experience and in conjunction with our National Agency it is evident the project would benefit also from dissemination at national and international levels. Examples include:

The inclusion in a BBC documentary National awards, including finalist of “So-cial Enterprise of the Year” for the last 5 years.

Furthermore the returning participants became ambassadors of the project amongst other young people in their local communities.

Dissemination strategies at international level included:Participation in contact seminars, popu-larising the project

Invitation to present our project as part of the best practice modules in the March 2010 conference in Brussels for combating poverty and social exclusion.

In the host countries, media and local VIPs are often present on a small celebra-tion the host partner organises at the end of the placement

In the host country appearing in National radio, national TV, local newspapers

An essential part of BET policy is to dis-seminate the project in the host country to appropriate authorities, who can offer ad-vice. i.e. – Ministries of education, Ministry of labour and social policy, British embassy, local municipalities, etc.

Presenting at the World Skills Exhibition held in London 2011

An article has been submitted on our project for inclusion in the 15th birthday celebration for our National Agency.

Dissemination

Production and distribution of newslet-ters, info packs, posters and presenta-tions.

A celebration event in the UK held after each successful placement enabling staff and participants to demonstrate the ben-efits of the programme, share best prac-tice, promote the project and disseminate information to stakeholders.

All participants returning from the pro-ject receive regular newsletters from BET with information as to their next steps in life.

The participants can popularise their experiences and the advantages of par-ticipating on this programme via the inter-net they are able to publish memories and pictures

Due to the beneficial nature of the project and that of mutual assistance and empowerment of-ten returning participants including team leaders become ambassadors for the project and en-courage other organisations to undertake simi-lar projects, for which we have often been ap-proached to act as consultants.

Further evidence of the quality of the project is the fact that many UK partner organisations do reoccurring team challenges as they have seen the benefit to the participants.Dissemination is also an important element in or-der to attract new and diverse UK partners to the network, ensuring we continually reach the most disadvantaged in society.

CLICK ON ME...

DOcUMentS PrODUceD DUrInG tHe LIfetIMe Of tHe PrOJect

PLeaSe fOLLOW tHe LInKS:

ItaLY

1. reSearcH anD neeDS anaLYSIS2. cOMMUnIcatIOn IS KeY- aDaPteD3. LOGO cOSVItec4. QUeStIOnnaIre (tHe 37 QUeStIOnS fOr SeLectInG PartIcIPantS)5. LeafLet cOSVItec6. BULGarIan cOUrSe_cOSVItec- POWer POInt PreSentatIOn7. an exaMPLe cV Of a YOUnG PerSOn8. PreParatIOn actIVItIeS anD career SeMInar9. aSSeSSMent Of YOUnG PerSOn10. tarGet GrOUP11. PreSS reLeaSe

SPaIn

1. reSearcH anD neeDS anaLYSIS 2. QUeStIOnnaIreS 3. cOMMUnIcatIOn IS tHe KeY aDaPteD4. OVerVIeW cOMMUnIcatIOn IS tHe KeY5. fUnDraISInG PrOJect6. rePOrt On PreParatOrY SeMInar7. GLOBaL rePOrt8. BG LeSSOnS9. tOI LeafLet10. MaGenta IntrO BrOcHUre11. PreParatOrY SeMInar tOI12. tarGet GrOUP13. QUeStIOnnaIreS PrOfeSSIOnaL teMPLate14. PrOfILInG a YOUnG PerSOn15. BULGarIan fOr BeGInnerS16. fLexIBLe QUaLIfIcatIOn17. eVaLUatIOn tOOLS18. SeMInar MaterIaLS

tUrKeY

1. reSearcH On SOcIaL SerVIceS2. SOcIaL SerVIceS In tUrKeY3. QUeStIOnnaIreS fOr PartIcIPantS 4. PrOfILe Of a LIKeLY DISaDVantaGeD PartIcIPantS5. LeafLet6. cOMMUnIcatIOn IS KeY7. BefOre/ after teSt reVISeD

BULGarIa

4C

oncl

usio

nsThis booklet is written by Bhagavat Educational Trust to give better understanding of the “Liv-ing and Learning Abroad” Project. The essence of the project is “Mutual assistance” where by one marginalised group assists another, typi-cally marginalised groups from UK will include, the homeless, former substance abusers, ex-offenders or those in or leaving care, while mar-ginalised groups from the host country include orphans in Bulgaria or street children in Turkey.

The project requires participants to spend two weeks abroad, it is the desire of BET to put the young people in a fresh new environment, where they have better chances to develop their skills, study and gain confidence without the burden of negative past associations. While aboard, the participants are working with a Psy-chologist, Career advisor, Project Coordinator, qualified teachers and trainers, and personal guide- translator who are at their disposal all the time. The experience that BET has in the field is over 10 years, over 80% of the partici-pants upon their return enter into employment, training or volunteering. These facts can only motivate Bhagavat Educational Trust to con-tinue sending participants abroad and not only that, but also enrol them on a course that helps them build a better future.

The target group Bhagavat Educational Trust fo-cuses on face many obstacles to obtaining work and to fulfil their lives. Before their participation in the project, the unemployed young people, the ex- offenders and these in or living care often feel abandoned, insecure and hopeless. They have lost their motivation; they often start using drugs or commit crimes. Although Great Britain provides many programs for the people at risk, the young people do not always appreciate these opportunities. All disadvantaged young people and ex- offenders face a range of barriers before they participate in the project, such as:

Poor basic skills Low self- esteemBehavioural and health problems.

These barriers are also compounded by a lack of recent work experience. The 2 weeks abroad are often described by the young people as “a life changing experience”- they help them in-crease their self- esteem, focus their attention on people in need, increase their motivation, re-ceive professional help.

Accordingly the statistics that Bhagavat keeps on the past projects, evidences on the positive effectiveness of the project are the better mo-tivation of the participants, their willingness to take a step in the right direction or their ambi-tion to pursue a career. Findings include that soft skills can not only improve employee per-formance and satisfaction but can also prepare technical workers for promotion into supervisory roles. Considering the target group and low level of proficiency participants have prior to the pro-ject, the effectiveness of the project is tremen-dous. Our research shows that the positive ef-fect of the project for the young people is very high. The participants feel more confident, more satisfied with themselves with improved motiva-tion and self- esteem.

Important

These results can only motivate us to keep improving and now transfer the knowl-edge for this so effective program for the young people to other countries. We be-lieve that it is our duty to be able to prove the hard facts we are referring to in this guide. Therefore we feel obligated to pro-vide statistical information to our partners.

Please find attached to this guide:Case studies of participants Soft skills review Satisfaction survey Quotes from Team leaders and partici-pants

○ 100% of the young people are more motivated after the project.○ 92% of the questioned team leaders think that the team challenge in Bulgaria helped the young people to be more organized and work harder.○ 100% of the team leaders state that after the project the young people are more sociable and they are trying harder in their career.

*In house statistical information 2010- 2011

Facts*:

5C

ase

Stud

ies

Bulgaria Case Study by

Rachel Vincent, 1st price in the written category of the

“Broadening Horizons – My Leonardo Experience”competition 2011!

I went to Bulgaria in October 2009 for two weeks, through these two weeks we worked in an or-phanage. We decorated one off the corridors but before this we met the young children, the kids it seemed only had one emotion and that was aggression, but as the two weeks went on the whole off my group all pulled together and showed them that we were not there to cause trouble or any-thing like that they soon become polite but very frustrated, as they were talking to us but we could

not understand them, it was also frustrating on our part. Through the two weeks we got to learn basic Bulgarian which was very hard for all of us because it seemed that everything that was said

was backwards i.e. yes was a shake off the head, and no was the nod off the head.

As the two weeks went on decorating got a lot easier as the young kids were helping out they were not getting in the way they were trying to help. Our group integrated very well, we all seemed to know where we fitted without been told and got on with things; this made things a lot easier. As

you can imagine, like any group who where spending twenty four seven together got very agitated, very easily, but what was said at the time was took and never carried on.

When we were on breaks we played a lot of games with the Bulgarians, they were all very high on football and they were very good so we had a bit off competition, through our basic Bulgarian we

were able to communicate with them, which we all very much enjoyed.

On the last day off working in Bulgaria the kids done a little show for us and we took cakes and sandwiches and things like that to them. The Girls did dances which was amazing to see the dif-

ferent variations of dancing in different cultures. And the boys played football, whilst the boys were playing football, a couple off the girls in our group showed the Bulgarian girls songs like if your

happy and you know it clap your hands and they picked it up really fast and wanted to sing it over and over again which was very nice for us to see cause we felt we had taught them something it was a big achievement a bigger one that doing the hall cause we had actually taught them some

things. When it was time to say by it was very emotional, all of us had tears in our eyes not so much the boys but you could see they were sad to. The kids came to our bus stop with us and

waved us off.

Before I went to Bulgaria my career prospect was not that high nobody seemed to be hiring me. As I had no past job experience, when we were in Bulgaria we had like an employment seminar which I benefited from greatly and it proved it cause as soon as I got home I got a job. Adding the trip to Bulgaria and what I did helped me get the job I have, as soon as I mentioned what I had done I

could see the smile in the employers eyes and she probed for more information, and I still think to this day that is why I got the job.

Although I was happy to be home I was missing seeing all the faces on the Bulgarians, I found my-self telling everyone I knew how lucky we are, I found myself telling people off for whinging about what they didn‟t have when we have a hell of a lot more than those poor kids in Bulgaria, that has dwindled down a lot now, but there is not a day that goes by that I don‟t remember what I do have

and when I am feeling slightly un-grateful I think off those little kids who have hardly anything in a different country . Although they are only three hours away on aeroplane it is such a different

country to ours and it is still going through its changes if I was given the opportunity again I would bite my right hand off to do it.

Bulgaria Case Study byShane Dawson

Chantry YMCA Group 21/06/2010 to 05/07/2010

Vratsa

My life was going no where be for i went to bulgaria just doin the same stuff everyday then i got the oppertunity to do some thing to change the

way i lived so i went to bulgaria with ymca youth group. i did not no what to exspect but i went ,when we got to bulgaria it was compleatly different to

england the buildings were run down and there was people rooting throug bins,stray dogs every were i could not belive it was like this but then we

arrived in vistra it was a nice place when we got to the orphanage it was a shock to see all the kids with notheing and it made me realize that in eng-land i take things for granted like food money and having a family just the small things really i didnt evan care about the things i had back home be-

cause i had them but i soon started to think different when i saw the kids for the first time it nearly brought me to tears i didnt imagan i would have felt that way but the experiance changed the way i fink about things and peo-ple from bulgaria i got intouch with an organisation called evs (every thing is possible) and now i am makeing a change in my life i am in italy at the moment doing volantering and hopefuly in january i am going to jamacia

to build a school just to try give someone the oppertunity that i have taken for granted all my life i want to try and make a difference to someones life

evan if it just a little bit but i would never have done this in the past i always thought of my shelf so thanks to the team at bhagavat they have changed the way i think and act and i hope to return to bulgaria to see how the kids are and hopefuly make a difference to someone elses life like they have to

mine

thanks for the oppertunity and hope to do some more work with you in the future

Brodeaning Horizons – My Leonardo Experience

Case study by Susan Backhouse,

3rd price in the written category of the “Broadening Horizons My Leonardo Experience”competition!

My name is Susan backhouse i went on the living and working abroad programme with the Blackburn YMCA last year where we went to Bulgaria two a little town called Razlog. This was the most amazing thing i ever got to do in my life. before we went me and a couple of my friends went in more depth and researched about the country and tried to learn a lot more about the background of the country and the way it is run. When we out in Bulgaria we got to see a total

different way of living to what we do in the UK.

The new skills i developed while on the programme on the programme was that i got a change to learn a different language which was really good i still know some of the phrases now. i got a chance to get some experience on my qulaficail i did when i left school as i am fully qualafical painter and decorator and what‟s what we did when we was out there. i got a chance to learn how to work as a team better and i got a chance to learn some leadership skill which i really enjoyed and did really well at which lead do know what i wanted to do which is run my own busi-

ness which i am awaiting starting my next course with the prince's trust programme.

My Personal development has developed by i have become more confident was different peo-ple and their different ways of thinking i have learn how to take different people opinions when

working as a group. As well as that i learn how lucky are in this country compared to others.

This experience affected my future career and life choices because i before i went on this pro-gramme last year i was only interested in getting drunk and take drugs and all looking where the next party is at but now i don‟t really drink and i don‟t take drugs i waiting at a course on the

prince‟s trust programme to start my own business.

I have already told others there should do it because i is a once in alive last opportunity which will chance your life for best.

Bulgaria Case Study bySteven Wilkes

12 to 26 January 2009Pernik

Participant of BET LLA project hosted in the town of Pernik, Bulgaria from 12 to 26 January 2009During my two weeks in Bulgaria, I experienced a different culture, food and living. When we arrived it was -10 and the ground was covered in snow. We met the translators off the plane who where called Vyara and Andy also with them was the main organizer of our trip Stefan.On our first night we took the coach to a little restaurant on the out skirt’s of Sofia, on our table when we arrived was a lovely looking salad which we found out was the traditional Bulgaria salad called shopsta which had tomato’s, cucumber , black olives, onion and white cheese in it . We also had a dish which was called Kiufte which was beef meatballs which was more in the shape of a burger .

We arrived at the hotel in Pernik it was located on Krakra Square in the middle of the town centre. We got acquainted with the hotel and our translators and had a coffee in the hotel lobby with them until we all went bed ready for a big day in the morning.

We all woke up and had breakfast around 8 o’clock. It was a bit of a challenge but in the end I think we all got what we wanted in the end. At 9 o’clock we got the tram from the town centre to the orphanage which was about 15 minutes away. When we arrived there we could see some of the kids we would be helping out and also we could see the challenge all of us had to do, we entered the orphanage which is also used as a school for kids that arrive in the morning and leave around 4.30.

When we got in we were not surprised by what we saw the wall’s were a state and the paint was uninviting and flakey we could see that this was going to be difficult but we all felt confident that we would succeed in our task , we all got together and we set a plan of action of what we were going to do , we decided to make the walls brighter using reds, yellow’s blue’s and purples we also wanted to replace the lino which was completely battered.

The next day I was quite ill with a throat infection which put me out for the week, which I was quite disappointed about because I wanted to do my bit but I was so ill I was not able to , but I did hear that they got started with stripping the wall and gave the walls a coat of white paint so the top coat would go on easier , I also heard that they had snowball fight with the orphans and got completely battered but I guess they get a lot of practice as there is nothing to do there accept to make your own fun .

On Saturday We all met up down stairs where Stefan and Andy had prepared a presentation for us. we all sat down an Andy gave us a talk on the Options we would have when our project in Bulgaria, some of them in-cluded doing more overseas volunteering which

grabbed my attention also there was language courses, armed forces, and appretiships we all had a think and he asked us what we would like to do and he made a list so he could arrange for us for to get in touch with people who could make these options a reality. We got together into groups of two and we got up and said what we wanted to do so everyone in the group would know what we wanted to achieve and why. After that went on an excursion to the outskirts Pernik there was a festival of masquerade games where a lot of the locals dress up and wear mask’s which are believed to scare off all the bad demons and spirits. We all were treated to an amazing show it was very noisy also as a lot of them had bells attached to them while there where dancing around to the beat of the drums, when it got dark we were all treated to a fire show where there was a small bonfire which was surrounded by peo-ple also there was a big firework show which was amazing and we all took photo’s to remind us of the amazing day. After we left the show which I was sure would go on for a few more hours at least, we went up to the moun-tain to this very posh restaurant which had this lady singing Bulgarian songs which I did not understand at all .

Our first week was coming to an end but we all enjoyed it and we were all looking forward to the week ahead.

Monday arrived and we all started our day we could see what difference we had mad already the walls where brighter and you could see the effect we where having on the kids, as well as refurbishing the orphan-age we also spent time with the kids there was a language barrier but we all felt a connection with them , it was quite fun we met sum great kids and if was a lot of fun teaching them English and they also were trying to teach us Bulgarian even if sum of the words were quite rude. But my favorite was Carl teaching them to say “Holy moly donut shop” they could not stop saying that for the whole time we where there.

Our project was coming along nicely and the walls were painted so we decided that we were going to do some murals from cartoons like Winnie the pooh and lion kind, so we borrowed a projector so we could project the images onto the wall so we could trace the outline of the characters which I did myself and was very proud of even thought it was traced it still looked pretty impressive . We also had a delivery of the lino we would be putting down you could tell the difference in quality from the English stuff but part of the task was working with what we could get our hands on. Anyway we did well with what we had we got on our own little project’s Ricky, Pete, John and myself got on with painting the mural’s Andy Parr got on with his favorite job which was glossing the door’s but beware if you got your fingers on it then he would go nuts, and everyone else just helped us out . We also had to one by one go to see Andy so he could ask us for informa-tion that he would use to put together our CV and information pack. After that was all done we had the floor to lay but I was confident as I used to be a carpet fitter so I was in charge of that, we decided that we were going to leave 2 inches of lino up the wall, because the glue was not top grade and if would probably go bad if the water from the staff moping the floor got to it so we managed to do that with minimal problem’s. We could see after floor had been laid that we had done an amazing a professional job and it look amazing com-pare to the state it was in before and I think the whole group was proud of themselves of what we achieved.

It came up to the last day at the orphanage; we would just do the final touches to the place and tidy up our mess. After that we where invited to upstairs to the children’s television room where all the children had got together to give us a send off. A few of them got up and recited famous Bulgarian poems and the director of the orphanage said thank you to all of us for a excellent work and the time we put in she said she was very impressed with our work . After that the children came up to us and gave us pictures that had draw for us , it was a very emotional time because we got so attached to the children and we knew we had to say good bye we gave them our presents that we brought from England and a load of sweets for them to share, it was amazing to see the effect we had on them you could see that they where so happy and it was a great feeling to know that .

It is one of the proudest things iv'e ever done and I would recommend it to anyone. But the time had come to say goodbye , it was hard but all good things come to an end but this as opened a door for a me and has helped me make a few decisions that could change my life , funny how an experience like that can change your view on things and make you want to be a better person .

On the final Saturday we went to the capital city of Bulgaria which is Sofia, we went there on the train which took us around an hour to get there. Andy our interpreter took us on a guided tour of the place and we all got to see some beautiful building including the parliament buildings and very old church. After all that we had something to eat a restaurant, we all went off in our own little groups and discovered the city. What I did not realize is how big the place is me, Carl and Ricky was looking everywhere where we could buy a drum and bass cd packs so we could have a little so venir of Bulgarian drum and bass. We must have got lost about 5 times, but I was surprised how many people spoke English. The city is such a nice place and has a lot of different variety of shops and they have something for everyone , the main high street is the 22nd most expensive in the world but off it you can find some good bargains they are not short of shops that sell the odd fake watch or jewelry. But over all I enjoyed being in Sofia it a great capital city full of culture and amazing buildings. On the Sun-day it was a free day but most of us decided to get ready and start reluctantly packing our bags and making sure we had all our documents. Later at around 7 O’clock we all met up in the hotel restaurant where we had a goodbye meal and so Andy and Stefan could give us a talk. He explained that he was very proud of our work and team ethic and that were a very good group he also had told that us that he had prepared us a folder we could use as a future reference , and he continued to hand them each to us one by one , the pack contained our euro pass cv, a green certificate which explained our achievement in Bulgaria, a postcard from pernik , a little wooden tube which contained this traditional perfume and a cd with all of the information just in case there was any thing we needed to change and there were also photos of us to remind us of our trip to Bulgaria.

Our last day we got up a 6 o’clock in the morning already packed and ready to go, some of us happy to go some of us sad to leave including myself. We caught the coach up to Sofia airport at 8 o’clock which took us an hour from there we boarded the aero plane and said good bye to Bulgaria.

The whole point of our 2 week journey to Bulgaria was to give our help and friendship to children less fort nate than us , and also to help ourselves develop as people and we all achieved that some of us in different ways but everyone came back a better person and a proud person , proud that we could say that we took our time to go to a different country and help people less fortunate than us , and seeing the children’s faces after we finished our job is an image that will stay with me for ever. I will use that as inspiration to motivate me for targets I have set myself and goals I want to achieve. Hopefully I have the chance to do this again and give my help and support to people who need it, and I have applied to do more volunteer work in Europe possibly for a year in the very near future.

6Quotes

“The group is now making positive steps in developing their lives; some are attending college; others are in work, either tempo-rally or in permanent positions. This can

only be described as miraculous.”Terrence Bradley, Team leader.

“This experience has changed my life I am now working as an outdoor instructor with

young people and the confi-dence I got from this project

certainly helped me.” Simon wright,

08/03/2010 to 22/03/2010, Bulgaria.

“I think the certificates were very good and all people on the trip are very proud of them. I also found the possibility of further work abroad in-teresting. I hope to put the certificate

to good use in the future” Darren Hill,

20/04/2009 to 02/05/2009 Bulgaria.

“This was one of the best things I had experienced in my life as it gave me a better outlook on life and gave me real satisfaction helping others. It was a very powerful expe-rience and leaded to further volunteer place-ments in the same year- 10 weeks in Nepal and 4 weeks in Italy and all this was down

to the 2 weeks I had in Bulgaria. It was fantastic experience.”

John Norman Abbott 12/01/2009 to 26/01/2009

”I was really rewarding seeing a project like the one that we did take shape, and then seeing the appreciation that the kids and the teachers had for what we had done was amazing. Bulgaria

was the first country I had ever been to abroad and that trip has definitely made me want to see

more of the world”Nick Clough,

04/09/2008 to 17/09/2008, Team challenge in Bulgaria.

“It was a big step for me as I am battling with drug addiction but I have to say the people at BET and RV Projects were fantastic in their support of me. I have

since moved out from my parents and I am living inde-pendently and I have went back to college.”

Karen Johnson , participant

“On returning home I was able to gain job interviews and at those in-terviews was more confident. I was able to sell my abilities of team work and motivation througt talking about the project. I now work full time a my

local supermarket.” John Pasthletwaite

12/10/2008 to 26/10/2008, Bulgaria.

How good was the project for me?

“This experience really built my confidence and helped me to appreciate working especially to help other people. This will help me with my work life because it gave me a real drive to work hard and succeed. For the same reason it will also help my personal life” Billy Kilpatrick, 04/09/2008 to 17/09/2008

“I now work with people with learning difficulties and this project helped me realize that was what I wanted to do” Kathryn Towle, 12.08.2010

“I will never forget my time in Bulgaria, it will always be a part of my life I will be proud of it.” John Pulford, 12/10/2008 to 26/10/2008

“It has made a huge difference on my life. It’s helped me make up my mind on what I want to do in my future.” Sean Mccafferts, 23/01/2010

“Its allowed me to experience a different way of life and learn new skills. It will be a lasting memory that will help me when applying for jobs or other opportunities. Its opened my eyes for the better” Mark Gregory, 9/9/2010

“I am so happy with all my certification that I gained. I was rather surprised of how many certificates that were given to me. Am so thrilled of all of them and seen that people have saw that hard work that me and the group have done. Am so grate-ful for my certificates.” Jodie Gardiner 09/09/2010

How I spend my time in Bulgaria, what I learnt?

“I have learnt a lot of Bulgar-ian language. It has boosted my confidence. Learnt to work better as part of a team and individually on my own initiative. I have learnt about different cultures and ways of life. All of the above and more will help me a lot while seeking employment. I also understand

more about …” Jason Brown, 04/09/2008 to

17/09/2008, Bulgaria

“I gained a lot of things from this project- confidence in my own abilities to work away from home, since

returning to the UK I have had employment which has involved staying away from

home” David Coleman,

13.08.2010

“I really enjoyed the experi-ence it gave me the con-fidence to apply for work away from where I live

which is quite remote. I now work and live at an outdoor centre in the Lake District” Tony Swales, 11.08.2010

“I feel I learnt how to work as a team and was able to meet

and interact with some amazing people espetially the children at the orphanage. I feel very

honoured to have had this op-portunity and will take away a

greatest knowledge and under-standing of volunteer work and project” Leanne Crow 9/9/2010

“The Certification I received have been an essential part of my CV and enabled me to

access future training, personal development and employment since the project. They are also

a reminder of the work I did and all I accomplished”

Rebecca Britton 20/06/2009 to 04/07/2009

“I feel it was good to gain the certification as most volunteer places don’t recognize what you do and it made me proud of what I have achieved from doing this project” Sarah- Louise Kennedy 9/9/2010

7PA

RTN

ERS

Cosvitec- description

FUTURE IS YOUR MIND

Cosvitec University and Enterprise is a “società consortile a responsabilità limitata”; it was born as a Con-sortium in 2001, through the evolution of the Territorial Interest Group (GIT) Agrimed, promoted and made up in collaboration with MIUR and University of Naples “Federico II”.

The University participates to the Socrates/Erasmus exchange programme and has signed five hundred and six agreements with more than three hundred universities and colleges throughout Europe. These agreements have so far, allowed nearly 3,500 students to attend courses abroad. These courses were mainly in Engineering and Technology, Language and Philological Science as well as Medicine. At the same time the Federico II University has received approximately 1,600 foreign students from all over the world.

Our collaboration with University, Research Centers, High-Tech Companies and SMEs has the specific aim to offer technological transfer services to sustain innovation, but also to develop and manage Reasearch an High Education projects at national and international level.

Cosvitec is improving the quality of life by promoting technology transfer and scientific cooperation.TRAININGOver the years, COSVITEC has helped to enhance its presence in the area, creating a Network of Associa-tions of Employers, public bodies, companies and schools, serving as a reference point for universities, business, governments, students and professionals. The consortium operates successfully in the following areas: •Higher Education and Master •Scientific and technological •Technology consulting and management •International cooperation for the transfer of science and technology •Chemical-physical and microbiological

Cosvitec is involved in the Regional Project “PAS”- funded by European Commission.

The specific aim of this project is to organize vocational training courses for dropout young students in order to increase their level of employability.

Our programme is developed by a team of expert teachers and psychologists and it is focused on profes-sional, technical and soft skills required by the labour market.

USEFUL LINKS

FACEBOOK GROUPFACEBOOK PAGECOSVITEC MUTUAL ASSISTANCECOSVITEC TRANSFER OF INNOVATION

Set up in 2007, Magenta Projects has two distinct areas of expertise; working with companies to develop and deliver corporate responsibility and philanthropy programmes; and with charities and not-for-profits, maximizing revenues and creating social impact.

Magenta’s focus is to encourage companies, individuals and communities to work, together and sepa-rately, to deliver tangible business results and positive social change.

Magenta Projects offers a combination of skills and experience; creativity and flair balanced by pragmatism and attention to detail. We do strategy, thinking and implementation, drawing on our collective expertise.

About Magenta

From developing capital campaigns, to creating CR strategies for a FTSE 100 company,

Magenta has worked hard to deliver excellence for all our clients, large and small. All our work has come through personal referrals.

Magenta is able to call upon on the expertise of a wide range of experts. Magenta is set up with a view to offering clients a cost-effective and efficient operation using her networks of contacts and associates built up over 13 years in fundraising and charity management, and another 12 years in corporate com-munications.

Operating a virtual office they tailor the team to the task at hand. Their network includes fundraisers, CSR experts, researchers and strategists; social media and digital experts; web, brand and communications gurus.

The things Magenta does:

Social impact; Managing risk; Enhancing reputation.

For Charities and not-for-profits Magenta’s services include:

Fundraising audit and strategy development Volunteer leadership fundraising Designing charity partnerships Corporate partnerships strategy and planning Capital and revenue campaign strategy Organisational review, training and development Social impact audit and benchmarking

T.C.İZMİT BELEDİYESİIZMITMUNICIPALITYINTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND EU UNIT

Izmit Municipality undertakes all local services effectively, efficiently and in harmony within its boundaries with its 980 municipality personnel.

As a centre City municipality, it has several functions and responsibilities in substructure, super-structure, health and environment. Izmit Municipality prepares many projects related education, culture, sports for women, youth, disabled and disadvantaged people, children as a target group to ensure realization of all kinds developmental implementation.

Izmit Municipality is the first municipality in its region, hosting and sending volunteers under Euro-pean Volunteer Service Program and develops projects related to Youth Program. Izmit Municipal-ity representatives also participated many international EU projects all around Europe and invited over 50 organizations to Izmit in several projects.

In all over Turkey, Izmit Municipality is one of 2 municipalities that is local relay of Eurodesk Tur-key. As International Relations and EU Unit, we are organizing several conferences and trainings for young people to let them know about European opportunities. Last year more than 2.000 young people benefited from these activities.

Izmit Belediyesi Dış İlişkiler ve AB Birimi

Eurodesk Türkiye Yerel Temas Noktası

Izmit Municipality International Relations and EU Unit

Eurodesk Turkey Local Relay

Omeraga mah. Abdurrahman Yuksel Cad.

Belsa Plaza No:9 Izmit 41300

Kocaeli TURKEY

Tel: +90 262 318 00 00 / 1454

Fax: +90 262 318 00 36

URL: www.izmit.bel.tr

BHAGAVAT EDUCATIONAL TRUST BULGARIA

Bhagavat educational trust – Bulgaria is the eastern european headquarters for Bhagavat educational trust – uk. Bhagavat Bulgaria fully endorses Bhagavat uk’s ethos and ‘Modus-operandi’.

ManageMent, resources and expertise are provided By Bhagavat uk Who has a Wealth of experience in running siMilar projects in india, africa, eastern europe and uk.

since 2007 Bhagavat Bulgaria is an accredited evs (european voluntary service) organisation and has the potential to host foreign participants and provide positive Work and training activities for theM. We have More recently hosted hundreds of participants and ac-coMpanying people in the fraMeWork of our “living and learning aBroad” projects (since 2008).

Bhagavat Bulgaria Works With an extensive netWork of social institutions across the country (as previously Mentioned the netWork Was estaBlished during the earlier “help today hope toMorroW” project), Where the placeMents of the leonardo MoBility participants are Be-ing hosted. institutions include orphanages, social hoMes for disaBled children, half-Way hoMes and sheltered accoMModations for youth at risk, day centres for children With learning disaBilities, etc.

the Main aiM of the placeMent in Bulgaria (as indeed in turkey) is to develop the participants in 3 Main doMains:

personal

- soft skills and social aBilities, through teaM Work and Benefiting a Marginalized group in the hosting country, But also through the cultural experience of living and learning aBroad. through the estaBlishMent of social enterprises in the hosting countries Business skills and entrepreneurship are NURTURED.

academic

- through the recognized qualifications they can coMplete as an added value While on placeMent, Which aWards credits and is very often the first step on the acadeMic ladder for Most of the participants. the qualification is very practical and orientated toWards eMployaBility and life skills. it is iMportant to realize that the qualification is actually Based on the placeMent activitie i.e. it requires the young people to record their experiences While in Bulgaria, But also What they learned during preparation activities, etc.

Vоnational - tasks and Work in the social institution to Be undertaken By the group of participants are identified prior to the group arriving, tak-ing into account their individual needs and aBilities and conveyed to the accoMpanying people should the accoMpanying people not have the relevant experience in the specific vocational field - a skilled person is identified in the host country to teach the participants the necessary skills.

Most of the orphanages already have vocational Workshops, iMpleMented through previous projects - We encourage the participants to participate in artistic Works, handMade crafts & other vocational activities including painting on silk/scarf, pottery &jeWelry.

the training content also is aiMed at Benefiting the host country Marginalised group – should the orphanage for instance require tiling – the participants are trained accordingly, then encouraged to undertake a “course project” – for instance tile a corridor, deMonstrating their neW skill. other typical projects have included painting and decorating, plastering, gardening and landscaping, Masonry and carpen-try, laying floors, producing playground equipMent, etc.

an iMportant eleMent of the project is also the careers seMinar – Where the young people explore topics such as career progression, joB searching, cv Writing and hoW to Be successful on a joB intervieW, presentation skills; But also Work on their desired next steps after the placeMent, Which are regularly Being folloWed up in post project phase.

the aBove is coMpliMented By cultural visit and excursions to interesting and unique places (i.e. the unesco World heritage site – rila Monastery in Bulgaria), language training and orientation exercises, Budgeting and Managing oWn and other people’s funds, Being in charge of the Whole project for a day.

We Believe it is the coMBination of all these that Make the placeMent a real “preparation for life and Work” experience, Boosting their self-confidence and esteeM, equipping theM for the challenges they Will face on their return.

conTacT deTails: e-Mail: adMin@Bhagavat.org.uk

phone: (+359 2) 8577188