LEAPE – Training of leaders and peer tutors for the wounded generations Erasmus Project

Project Title

LEAPE – Training of leaders and peer tutors for the wounded generations

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 youth

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Health and wellbeing; Youth (Participation, Youth Work, Youth Policy) ; Inclusion – equity

Project Summary

Stiftelsen Fryshuset’s and Sosped Foundation’s project “LEAPE – Training of leaders and peer tutors for the wounded generations” aimed
to enhance social inclusion of psycho socially challenged youth through peer support & leadership skills.
Project main goal was to exchange practices to enhance social inclusion of socially excluded youth and young adults. The project did this by promoting empowerment through peer-tutor training for Swedish young people and leadership-training for Finnish young adult who are suffering from mental health problems.

Project started in February 2018 and ended in January 2019.

Youth work is more developed in Sweden where as low threshold mental health work is more developed in Finland. The project contributed to mutual learning and sharing of good practice and knowledge between the partner organizations, but also plan long-term implementation of it in each organization. Also cooperation between organizations working in the field of youth development – and mental health services is inadequate. The Sosped Foundation Culture house- concept, where mentally challenged people are being trained to become functional peers, doesn’t exist outside of Finland. Fryshuset instead has a several years experience of training hundreds and hundreds of youth and other target groups with their value -based leadership program.

Through exchange of expertise and good practice the project aimed to empower youth by training them to become peer tutors and empower young adults by training them to become youth leaders. The project activities focused especially on youth and young adults (13-35 years) who were suffered from mental problems and social exclusion.

Sosped has been working with young adults (18-35 yers) who are suffering from mental health problems whereas Fryshuset had been working with young people (13-30). If Culture houses (and other low threshold mental health services) are not able to find new ways to empower long term participants, these people might experience a relapse or/ and they become a new reason for younger participants for NOT to attend to Culture houses, because they´ll become passive or chronic. With the help of leadership skills these people would not only be able to lead themselves and others but also be able to grow in responsibility, independence and management and self management skills. Fryshuset, like many other youth houses in Sweden has had a challenge of attracting youngsters who are in the most vulnerable position. Those who are suffering from mental health problems and are socially excluded from the society. These people are often the ones who are too afraid to attend to “normal” activities with other youngsters. Training of Fryshuset’s Särskolan’s students to become peer tutors gave Fryshuset sufficient tools to reach out to an entirely new and often forgotten target group.

Project activities consisted of five different meetings:
1) (2/2018) A 2 days preparative transnational project meeting (2 days) in Stockholm where both learning event where planned
2) (4/2018) A 5 days learning event in Stockholm during which Sosped organized a peer tutor training to Fryshuset’s 14 youngsters. Two of the trainers were Sosped’s peer tutors.
3) (5/2018) A 5 days learning event in Helsinki where Fryshuset trained Sosped’s 12 peer tutors to become youth leaders
4) (9/2018) A 2 days evaluative transnational project meeting in Helsinki
5) (12/2018) A 5 days follow-up transnational project meeting in Finland during which all the trained peer tutors where met one more time.

After the project Sosped got a leadership model with which it could train peer tutors to deepen their leadership skills. Fryshuset got instead peer tutor model with which they could serve the needs of youngsters who are suffering from mental health problems.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 33762,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

Sosiaalipedagogiikan säätiö & Country: FI

Project Partners

• STIFTELSEN FRYSHUSET