A new version of Children-Friendly Spaces
28.07.2023
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2 minutes
A few weeks ago, we presented a summary of the first year of operation of the Children-Friendly Spaces. Over the last 12 months, in 9 Polish cities, 3,619 people have benefited from various types of support – a total of over 14,000 hours of group classes and individual meetings with specialists.
Today we present a new version of Children-Friendly Spaces. Thanks to Shell’s support, we will continue the program aimed at families from the refugee community in Poland and the host community until the end of the year, expanding the range of activities for adults and leisure activities for children. To begin with, taking advantage of the summer holidays, we organized one-week camps in the mountains – in September, 270 children from Poland and Ukraine will return to school with a new mountain adventure on their account.
Galeria
Based on the conclusions from the current course of the project, we have implemented a number of solutions to provide even better support for participants. One of the most important tasks at present is to strengthen the competence of therapists to work with people affected by trauma. In addition, it is necessary to increase the scope of activities for the psychological and socio-economic adaptation of refugees and improve their position in the labor market. One of the key challenges is the knowledge of the Polish language at the above-basic level among adults. It was the language barrier that was most often indicated as making it impossible to take up a job or leading to performing tasks below the competencies resulting from experience and education. We assume that thanks to the various support, approx. 60% of participants from Ukraine participating in the project will find employment during the project or by the end of February 2024.
Once again, the organizations cooperating with us from Lublin, Łódź, Kraków, Ruciane Nida, Poznań, and Bielsko Biała will run Toddler Clubs, daycare centers, psychosocial consultations, and therapeutic support for children and adults. For the first time, classes in the field of qualified tourism and rescue will be conducted. In addition, local partners will independently prepare the program of offered activities, thanks to which they will make the best use of the involvement of participants and the available options to spend time actively.