Monday, 18 July 2011

Our UK volunteers on a new video about our partner SKIP (Peru)

A volunteer from SKIP (Peru), Jano Lavalle, created a new video about the organisation. You will probably recognise some of our UK long term volunteers which are still in their project in Peru, right now. These EVS projects are funded with support from the European Commission (Youth in Action programme).



SKIP, ONG TRUJILLO - EL PORVENIR from TáhuanoFoto on Vimeo.


Project part of BREAKING BARRIERS
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP
and supported by EACEA
and the Youth in Action Programme


Tatiana, our long term hosting volunteer from Costa Rica, is in the Groundwork Newsletter

Click on the next image to read the article:
Groundwork Leeds is a charity which helps people and organisations make changes in order to create better neighbourhoods, to build skills and job prospects, and to live and work in a greener way.


Project part of BREAKING BARRIERS
BUILDING PARTNERSHIP
and supported by EACEA
and the Youth in Action Programme


Thursday, 14 July 2011

Welcome to our 4 new short term EVS volunteers

Sofiane, Aurelie, emilia and Patricja with their two mentors, Bob and Barbara

All the Everything is Possible Team is happy to welcome our 4 new short term EVS volunteers: Aurelie, Sofiane, Emilia, Patricia. They come from Poland and France and Reunion Island (Fr) and will volunteer in an environmental project for one month.

Wednesday, 13 July 2011

Testimony from Marta, an Italian participant in our Gruntvig Learner Workshop ''Exchanging Dreams''

Read a short testimony from Marta, Italian participant in our Grundtvig Learner Workshop ‘’Exchanging Dreams’’. This project has been organised by Everything is Possible and supported by ECORYS and the Lifelong Learning Programme.


Marta during the news reading experience at the National Media Museum in Bradford

‘’After this discussion we were able to get in the radio and do our own radio emission and this was a very exciting experience. This experience showed us how it’s possible to realise the ideas that you have. […] It gave us a lot of hope. ‘’
 Marta


''My favourite workshop was the one at the Aculco Radio in London. we spent there all the day and the activities were so interesting. We were divided in different groups to speak about our dreams and the opportunity about the job, especially the situation of the market of work in our countries and the problem of the youth unemployment. After this discussion we were able to get in the radio and do our own radio emission and this was a very exciting experience.

Marta during the workshop at Aculco Radio in London

This experience showed us how it’s possible to realise the ideas that you have and you can create almost what you want, what you think is the best for you and for your friends, for the country in which you live. It gave us a lot of hope.  I learned a lot of things, I can start to know other people from all over the world and this is a way to improve the capacity of know myself and know how to manage with the relation and with other people and with other nationality is better because you have to relate with such different kind of culture and education so this was the first skill I think; and the second was of course to use this media instrument. So the first day we started using camera and that was the way to know an instrument that is so known but we cannot use in the best way, we don’t know such a lot about this. And of course the radio and we visited also places like the BBC in which they do a lot of work in an open wild world way.  It was an occasion to develop the knowledge about the world, how the world is going on and why this. This was another opportunity.''
Marta


Tuesday, 5 July 2011

Competition ''Your Story'' for UK participants about their experience through EVS, Leonardo, Grundtvig or other programmes

Dear volunteers/trainees,

Ecorys and the British Council are running a competition for UK participants of the Youth in Action (European Voluntary Service-EVS and other actions) and Lifelong Learning (Leonardo, Grundtvig and others) Programmes from across the UK.

As EVS volunteers, Leonardo trainee, or participant in Grundtvig, you are invited to participate in this competition by sending your testimony of your experience through words, photos or film. (for more information please visit the official your story competition website http://competition.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk/  or contact Raphael: raphael@everythingispossible.eu )

‘’Studying, living, training or working in another European country is a great opportunity to explore new countries and cultures, make new friends and learn another language. However it also broadens your horizons in many other ways. It can improve your ability to deal with differences, question the established ways of seeing and doing things and trigger independent thought.

We are sure you have had lots of different experiences through involvement in the programmes and have a story to tell. This competition allows you to share your story with other participants and will also give you the opportunity to see some of your photos, films and stories on our websites.’’


Conditions and deadline?
The competitions are open until 30 September 2011. All the winners from each of the six programmes will be invited to attend a joint prize-giving event at the British Council head office in London in November 2011. It is only open for people from UK participating in one of this programme.

For specific conditions regarding each programme, please visit the official your story competition website http://competition.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk/  


There are some exciting prizes on offer:
For Leonardo:
Written: First prize winners will receive a trophy and the popular reading tablet, Kindle. Two highly commended winners will each receive a certificate and Amazon vouchers worth £35.
Photography: First prize winners will receive a trophy and Amazon vouchers worth £100 and a digital photo frame. Two highly commended winners will each receive a certificate and Amazon vouchers worth £35.
Film: First prize winners will receive a trophy and a Flip camcorder. Two highly commended winners will each receive a certificate and Amazon vouchers worth £35.

For EVS:
Written: The winner of the essay category will receive a Kindle 3G Wireless Reading Device.
The second prize winner of the written category will receive £50 worth of Amazon vouchers.
The third prize winners of the photographic and written categories will each receive £15 worth of Amazon vouchers.
Photography: The winner of the photographic category will receive a Nikon Coolpix S4100 in Black.
The second prize winner of the photographic category will receive a Diana Mini Camera.
The third prize winners of the photographic and written categories will each receive £15 worth of Amazon vouchers.
Film: The winner of the film category will receive a Flip Ultra.
The second prize winner of the film category will receive £50 worth of HMV vouchers.
The third prize winner of the film category will receive £15 worth of cinema vouchers.

For Grundtvig:
Written: First prize winners will receive a trophy and the popular reading tablet, Kindle. Two highly commended winners will each receive a certificate and Amazon vouchers worth £35.
Photography: First prize winners will receive a trophy and Amazon vouchers worth £100 and a digital photo frame. Two highly commended winners will each receive a certificate and Amazon vouchers worth £35.
Film: First prize winners will receive a trophy and a Flip camcorder. Two highly commended winners will each receive a certificate and Amazon vouchers worth £35.

More info?
Visit the official your story competition website:  http://competition.lifelonglearningprogramme.org.uk/  

Or contact Raphael: raphael@everythingispossible.eu



Friday, 1 July 2011

Read the July Turn Up the VOLume NEWSLETTER



Please, discover the Turn Up the VOLume NEWSLETTER of July, wrote by our new volunteer Annapina. You will find in this newsletter some information about Leeds, Bradford and London, and some advices about how to spend yoru free time:
- What's on: in Bradford
- Theatre, Music, Cinema and Art;
- Trips: ;
- Recipe of the month: Crepes;
- Events.

Read an extract from Rebekah's blog, long term volunteer in France

''My Desk in the Office in Lille :-)''

''I passed Everything is Possible’s stand and Steve asked me “Would you be interested in volunteering?”… My response was “I would love to but it’s just too expensive”.  Well lo-and-behold, the European Voluntary Service (EVS) doesn’t charge a penny for volunteering as it is funded by the European Commission''
Rebekah


''Hey everyone! For those who don’t know me, I’m Rebekah Warburton and am currently 22 years old.  I am originally from Leeds in West Yorkshire (North UK), but since I was 10 years old have been living in Yarm, further up North in Stockton-on-Tees.  I have just finished my degree in Psychology and for the past year have been thinking “What the heck am I gonna do after I finish?”  Scared of becoming bored after finishing my studies, I searched and searched on the web for jobs, sending in many applications (ultimately none being successful).  I spotted a leaflet in careers services at my university (Teesside University) for a European Jobs Day up in Newcastle…. I figured why not… Dropped dad at work and went for a drive.


That was where I decided that some kind of French speaking job / experience was the next step.  My first instincts were to apply for Disneyland Paris (!) but that didn’t happen.  I passed Everything is Possible’s stand and Steve asked me “Would you be interested in volunteering?”… My response was “I would love to but it’s just too expensive”.  Well lo-and-behold, the European Voluntary Service (EVS) doesn’t charge a penny for volunteering as it is funded by the European Commission, a programme that Everything is Possible work with.  The European Jobs Day ended up being the best decision I could have made.

Within a couple of weeks I was in Leeds meeting Ash, the coordinator of long-term volunteering programmes.  After a discussion on what I would like to do, it seemed that Lille, North France, would be the best option for me.  This worked out perfectly because I was visiting Brussels shortly afterwards, so I just jumped on the train and went to meet Yves, the coordinator in the welcoming organisation (i.e. the Boss J ).

It’s now 28th June 2011 and I arrived in France on the 1st June, just 4 days after my final exam! To begin with it felt like I must be in a dream, that I really am finally in France, but it has slowly sunk in and I am making the best of my opportunities here.  I want to use this blog to document my experiences here in France and life after my volunteering adventure. I hope you enjoy it!''

Rebekah


To read more about Rebekah's volunteering in France, visit her blog : http://bex-warburton.blogspot.com/