The Bulgarian branch of an international company has started a mentoring programme for young people in Houses of Opportunity in Sofia. Experian began supporting the House of Opportunity Lyulin in 2017 and when it recommitted for 2018 the company wanted to get further involved, believing its staff had something extra to offer.
The mentoring programme has started to make an impact on the young people, mentors and the FSCI team. Stoyan Stoyanov, House Manager at Lyulin, shared his thoughts on progress so far:
“For me, Experian’s support is invaluable. The company is helping us in an incredibly delicate and non-binding way. Here in Bulgaria we have a saying, “The one who pays is the one who chooses the songs,” but Experian is not like that. We have an incredible partner and the newly started mentoring programme proves it completely. The people who chose to be mentors are very well-meaning, and their experience and knowledge are priceless. I say it from personal observation and I am very happy and I envy them a bit, because from the position of volunteers they can “touch” the life of the youth in a very different way and they can influence areas where the social worker does not have and should not have access to. In short, Experian mentors fill a niche that is very important.”
Funds are crucial but businesses can offer programmes like the House of Opportunity other invaluable support through deeper engagement with the beneficiaries. FSCI’s long-term goal is to demonstrate in countries throughout Southeast Europe that there is a better way to help the most vulnerable in society and when businesses take a lead in valuing and investing in young people the way Experian are doing this is evidence that attitudes are changing for the better.
Examples of Experian’s involvement with the House of Opportunity Programme can be found here and here.
If your company or organisation would like to speak to us about engaging with our programmes, please get in touch.
Bulgaria: Teodora Koleva, t.koleva@fscibulgaria.org
SE Europe and UK: Chris Mould, chris.mould@fscinet.org