My name is Edgar, I am 26 years old and I am from Málaga, a beautiful city in the seaside of south Spain. I moved to the north of England to be a volunteer for sport and health across generation with the organization Momentum World. Recently I have made a training course “Walking for Health” to be able to lead health walks in the area of Keswick. This is going to be a good opportunity to show people the
importance of taking care of themselves and the nature around us.
I am Olga, and I manage EuroPeers UK, the international opportunities network for young people in the UK. EuroPeers have been very busy in 2019 with activities popping up all over the country, from Aberdeen to Falmouth, from London to Edinburgh. One of the highlights this year must of course be the international training course which we got to organise in Liverpool in February. We also delivered two successful training courses at a national level for the new recruits and we have seen them run inspiring activities in their regions. You might have seen us at university events near you, or perhaps read our stories on the EuroPeers website and social media.
A delegation of EuroPeers UK attended the 5th European Meeting in Utrecht in October, which
welcomed EuroPeers from all across Europe as well as representatives of National Agencies. We look forward to getting involved in international events in the coming months.
I would like to encourage you to subscribe to the newsletter on the EuroPeers UK website.
In 2020, our youth-led Executive Team will be working on reaching even more young people regionally and delivering sessions to those who are internationally minded, but struggle to find user-friendly information on Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps. EuroPeers UK are here to inspire others to embark on experiences abroad, EuroPeers UK are here to support others with their journeys. We are now in the process of updating our website to make it more accessible to various different audiences.
As CEO of Momentum World, I have had the opportunity to travel to many countries in Europe and beyond, over the course of the last 10 years and more. These trips may be for conferences, project planning, partner meetings, running training courses or other events: the purpose and the location varies, but the mix of people, culture and ideas is always stimulating and fun. In the course of these journeys, you come across a wide range of organisations and individuals active in international education and youth work. I feel I have a pretty good measure now of who is “out there” around Europe. I’ve met the good, the bad and the ugly: on the one hand, there are some people whose professional standards sadly fall short of expectations; but on the other, there are many excellent and experienced organisations who have become our trusted and reliable long-term partners.
The 3 Networks meeting (Mallorca, November 2019) was one of the best experiences. This seminar was organised by Eurodesk, the European Youth Card Association (EYCA) and the European Youth Information and Counselling Agency (ERYICA). It brought together over 50 experts from 12 countries to discuss information provision to young people and, in particular, the opportunities and threats of social media, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Momentum World was representing Eurodesk UK: Paul and I were able to showcase our recent work in 360 degree filming (“Youthwork 360”) and media for inclusion. At the same time we learned a huge amount from the other delegates and built solid foundations for future partnership with the Eurodesk, ERYICA and EYCA and the member organisations present. And as so often, in a short space of time new friendships were made, transcending national and cultural boundaries.
Alongside the meeting, a best practice handbook has been published, available here. It’s a source of ideas for future partnerships and we will welcome contact from anyone interested.
Over the last four days we have been to the wonderful Glaramara centre up in the Borrowdale Valley. This has been the host of many Momentum of events over the years. We have seen a transform from an outdoor centre to a wonderful hotel.
The whole team met and decided to give ourselves a number of challenges. One of these was to update the Momentum website. Each of us took on different aspects and over three days the site has been polished and streamlined. We even got a walk one of the most beautiful days I’ve ever seen in December.
The coming together finished with us meeting our friends and volunteers who are working at the Calvert Trust. We treated them to a wonderful Christmas party and five course meal.
We would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year look forward to more exciting things happening in 2020
Hello everyone! This is Eva from Greece. It’s been around three months since I moved to England and it turned out to be the greatest choice that I could have made. After experiencing a short-term project in Romania, I wanted to continue with a long-term one. But where? Randomly, I found myself applying to a project in the Lake District about environmental sustainability. So, here I am…living in the UK while volunteering under the aegis of Momentum World. And not only that! As a person who enjoys experiencing the world through traveling, but also as someone who wants to build her “future” based on her interests, I find myself more than lucky for chasing this opportunity. Not only am I experiencing a new country and culture, but I’m having actual training in one of my biggest passions –film-making – while working upon projects, sponsored by Momentum World. In less than three months I’ve already travelled around the UK. I’ve met people around the area while creating a lovely multicultural company of co-volunteers. Day by day, I’m getting to know more and more about international opportunities, realizing the importance of these and all the above through filming.
