Cyrenians Cymru

Transnational partnerships have become increasingly important in our work, not only to create opportunities for those who use our services, but to share knowledge and experience.

European Fire Celebrations

This project was run in conjunction with our partners from Spain, Czech Republic, Turkey and Denmark. It is featured as an example of good practice in European lifelong learning on the EU Inclusion website www.llpinclusion.eu

Read more about the project

S.I.W.R.

We have developed links with partners in Romania, to promote project development to support marginalised groups in both Wales and Romania. The new initiative SIWR (Social Inclusion in Wales and Romania) is being developed through these links, and with the support of the consulate in Wales.

Read more about this project

TAP-IN

We are in discussions with the Welsh European Funding Office about developing a pilot project for ‘Transnational approaches to developing best practice and innovation for engagement, training, and employability of homeless and disengaged groups’ (TAP-IN). Staff and services users will work in partnership with organisations in Sweden, Romania, Spain and Italy.

More to come soon.

SIWR Project – Social Inclusion for Wales and Romania.

We have developed links with partners in Romania, to promote project development to support marginalised groups in both Wales and Romania. A delegation comprising of Board members and staff have recently returned from a second visit to Iasi, Romania.

This visit was to further partnership plans, with the support of the consulate in Wales for an application to start a bilateral EU funded project between Romania and Wales called the SIWR project.

Talks between counterparts of two Romanian charities, Casa Ioana and World Vision took place at Ciric Complex in Iasi.

This application will comprise of research and development in the fields of street homelessness and social exclusion in order to deliver an outreach model of Casa Ioana’s successful provision for homeless people in Bucharest, adapted to Iasi, and new-build community centre (using Cyrenians Community Resource Centre as a delivery model)– with particular focus on elderly people, as well as disaffected / disengaged young people in Aroneanu, Iasi. If successful, the research study will last two years and the building developments will begin in 2014.

Until recently, people generally associated learning with the education they received at school and university. Today, Europe is undergoing a major transformation to become a world-leading knowledge based society. This means that knowledge, and the innovation it sparks, are the EU’s most valuable assets. The Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) supports individuals at all stages of their lives to pursue stimulating opportunities for learning across Europe.

Over two years Cyrenians Cymru received European funding through the Grundtvig Lifelong Learning programme. This funding allowed us to work with learning facilities in three other European countries (Denmark, Spain and Turkey), offering exchange visits for learners to the respective countries to share multicultural practices.

The main objective of the partnership is to introduce adult learners to the different ways in which fire is used to celebrate events in different countries across the EU, and encourage participation in creative and traditional activities.

The first event to take place was here in Swansea in November 2007, with fourteen representatives from Denmark, Spain and Turkey spending a week at Dragon Arts. Exchange visits were then organised over a two year period; to Tuejar near Valencia in Spain in March 2009; Aalborg in Denmark in June 2009 and Izmir in Turkey in October 2010.

The visit to Wales involved a variety of activities for both the visitors and the members of Dragon Arts participated in including a Welsh Food Evening, Craft Workshops, a Bonfire Night Event and trips to local places of interest.