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On July 10th, a conference was held and policies for protection of children from violence were presented from the 5 Varna schools, included in the project “Creation and implementation of a model for protection of children at primary and secondary schools in Vladislavovo, Varna , supported by the Institute Open Society, Sofia. Ms. Maria Chankova and Mr. Radoslav Dimitrov from the Regional Department for Social Support attended the conference.
Because of the great interest in the implemented activities, new sources for financing were sought in order to include other schools from Varna in the project.
Gavroche was approved for a grant by the Association Parents, Fund for Support of Innovative Initiatives, and 4 other schools are to be included.
On 29th and 30th June, in Malmo, Sweden, the last conference of the Catch Project for combating social exclusion was held - Transnational Exchange Programme.
The conference was officially opened with a welcoming speech by Birgitta Nilsson, member of the City Council of Malmo, and Anneli Larson, Head of Kirseberg area of Malmo.The results from the previous 3 conferences – in Barcelona, Bologna and Milano, were discussed.
On our behalf, Ms. Penka Stoyanova, the Executive Director of Association Gavroche was present, accompanied by Mr.Zdravko Markov, Director of Department for Social Activities and Housing Policies (Varna Municipal Council), and deputy minister of Labour and Social Policies, Ms. Ivanka Christova.
On the children’s day the home Gavroche was filled with boisterous games. The happiest ones were the little children who received much attention and were surrounded by colorful balloons.
Many social workers from the Centre of Social Services for Children and Families, as well as from the Agency for Protection of Children, joined the work team of Gavroche.They organized a competition for a drawing on asphalt and distributed many rewards. The children were playing, painting, dancing all day long. At the end of the holiday celebrations dinner was served after which the dances continued.
The programme included projecting short films about safety on the road in the Youth Club of Gavroche.
The celebrations were dedicated to the children and the 5th anniversary of the State Agency for Protection of Children.
On the 1st of April, 2006, a project started for renovation of the house in Debeli Rat, Region of Elena, for the establishment of a national centre Gavroshovtsi, “for recreation and social integration of children and youths at risk. The project is financed by Foundation “Lale”; The major priority of the project is foundation of recreation facilities and a centre for functional education and social reintegration of children and youths at risk.
The successful cooperation between Gavroche and the English organization Oxford aid for the Balkans has been continuing and English students has been spending time at our home.The meetings of English students with the children from Gavroche are full of emotions, warmth, joy and entertainments. The young volunteers are not only a valuable and indispensable part of the Gavroche team in their daily work with children at risk but they also are a contact with foreign cultures, customs, history, language. The result is that many children who have difficulties with Bulgarian language , make easily their first steps in learning the words of Shakespeare. And they are doing very well.Even they help the social workers in their contacts with the foreign students.
The students spent two weeks from 14.03. till 28.03.2006 at the Gavroche home. During that time they went on a trip with the children to Aladja monastery and the Pobitite Kamani.
On March 17, 2006 the Gavroche home was visited by English volunteers via the Donations Forum.The volunteers were 20 sailors from the ship “Saint Albans” of the British Royal Marines.They volunteered to paint the fence of the home and afterwards played games with the children and treated them with sweets and goodies.
On March 17, 2006 the Gavroche home was visited by English volunteers via the Donations Forum.The volunteers were 20 sailors from the ship “Saint Albans” of the British Royal Marines.They volunteered to paint the fence of the home and afterwards played games with the children and treated them with sweets and goodies.
On 16, 17 and 18 March in the Austrian capital Wien an international conference was held with main topic "The needs of homeless women", organized by an initiative of the European commission CATCH, with partners: Malmo Municipality (Sweden); Bologna Municipality (Italy); Non-governmental organization Tokan, based in Manchester, the Salvation army from Wien (Austria), Foundation Why of Vantaa (Finland); NPO ADIGSA (Barcelona); Association Gavroche, Varna (Bulgaria), Association Parella, Turin (Italy); Ark Trust, Edinburgh (Scotland), representatives from Dublin City Council (Ireland) and Lisbon City Counjcil (Portugal). During the conference best practices for support of homeless women were discussed by representatives of different countries and the House for Homeless women in Wien, which is to be opened in the end of this month , was shown.
The conference was opened by Mr. Eduard Albrich from the Federal Ministry of Social Security – coordination of the national plan for combating social exclusion. Mr.Albrich expressed gratitude to Ms. Ulrike Knecht for the good organization of the event and the well-functioning cooperation between the institutions and the non-governmental organizations supporting the homeless.
On March, 29 and 30, a presentation took place at the Gavroche home and best practices from the conference were presented before representatives from Varna non-governmental organizations providing support to homeless and poor people and help them to overcome social exclusion.
A new issue of bulletin of the "Gavroche" Assossiation came out.
Bulletin N2 >> (needs Adobe Acrobat Reader)
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