The Take the Leap Project Erasmus Project

Project Title

The Take the Leap Project

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship); Access for disadvantaged

Project Summary

Context
Youth experiencing social exclusion do not have training and resources tailored specifically to their needs. Despite this, in our experience many would consider setting up an enterprise but lack the self-confidence and know-how to go about it. Youth workers and others working in the field may refer to business advisers but usually these are not equipped to provide the special support and nurturing that socially excluded youth need. So most give up on this dream early on as they feel overwhelmed.
The Take the Leap Project aims to fill this gap by developing, piloting and introducing a two-level workshop-based training program, and an innovative online Training Package geared sensitively to the specific needs of a young person facing social exclusion.
Objectives
• Workshops and one-to-one mentoring at (a) Level 1 – to address the barriers socially excluded youth face e.g. by boosting motivation, self‐confidence, entrepreneurial/creative thinking, personal skills recognition, communication skills, developing enterprise ideas, and (b) Level 2 – firming up these ideas, needs analysis, identifying key skills needed for success, unpaid work placements, and visits to successful start-ups
• Sharing knowledge, skills, good practice and experience between NGOs in the training, coaching and mentoring of socially excluded youth in entry to entrepreneurship
• The development of an open digital youth work entrepreneurship Training Package supporting socially excluded young people
Participants
(a) 300 youth facing social exclusion including such factors as poor mental health, long term unemployment (NEET), learning disabilities, social isolation, income deprivation, being ex-offenders and (b) At least 400 youth workers and youth trainers and others who provide support services to the above group
Main Activities
Creation of common brand for the project; further research into best practice; setting up and piloting of workshops; transnational meetings to manage the project and share experience, including an end- of-project conference; development of online training package; delivering a further 3 training workshops; testing, evaluating and final production of online Training Package; presentation via multiplier events in each country; planning dissemination; writing final evaluation
Methodology
Partner will lead on named areas, work via a Project Management Board through ongoing communication via email, Google Drive, Skype and face to face transnational meetings. Reference groups (including youth participating in the workshops) will trial the workshop training and the online Training Package providing feedback. Training will incorporate processes such as peer mentoring, 1:1 support, small group work, other student-centred approaches using team work, experiential problem-solving learning, building on existing knowledge. For all our events we will using social media/digital presentation technology (e.g. Mentimeter.com) to track progress and maximise involvement in project decision making. Regular monitoring will take place with evaluations of events supporting the mid-term and final evaluation/report. We will use the last few months of the project to disseminate more widely. A project finale conference will form part of the final transnational meeting and multiplier events will showcase the completed online Training Package in all partner countries.
Results
Results include (a) sharing, development and dissemination of best practice/new innovative tools in youth training tailored to socially excluded young people; (b) enhancing youth trainer’s professional development, by using digital methodologies; (c) enhancing of transnational cooperation (d) direct training and support of socially excluded youth learners who have hitherto faced barriers to entering entrepreneurship (e) new digital resources in the form of our online Training Package geared to the specific needs of socially excluded youth
Impact
For the young people: personal development: improved skills, knowledge and awareness to start up as entrepreneurs. For the youth trainers and others who work provide services to young people: awareness of methods of training and supporting socially excluded youth to enter entrepreneurship; new/improved understanding of how youth are supported to enter entrepreneurship in other countries; improved practices in supporting and motivating socially excluded young people. For all: knowledge of the availability of other support provision and resources for youth regarding entrepreneurship – offered within their own country, within the EU and in Europe as a whole; knowledge of how to access this provision and these resources.

The enhanced training and resources will benefit socially excluded youth across Europe as described above. We expect to have a stronger group of stakeholder organisations working together with policy makers in national governments in this field at a local, national and European level.

Project Website

https://www.taketheleap.org.uk/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 35259 Eur

Project Coordinator

Diversity Living Services (DLS) & Country: UK

Project Partners

• Eprojectconsult – Istituto Europeo di Formazione e Ricerca
• ASSOCIATION FOR CITIZEN S TOLERANCEAND COOPERATION PRILEP
• NGO Ritineitis
• MOBILIZING EXPERTISE AB