We are passing our Early Years Project in Fakulteta to a new partner.
We have been running an Early Years Centre in the Roma community of Fakulteta for over 10 years. During that time hundreds of children from marginalised families have benefited from receiving a solid basic grounding in the Bulgarian language, number skills, socialisation and hygiene habits. These children have all gone on to make successful transitions to primary education, with some receiving scholarships to a local private school.
We are delighted to announce that the Fakulteta project has been passed on to Concordia, an Austrian organisation operating in several European countries, with a particular focus on Roma education in Bulgaria, running its own Early Years programme in several other Roma communities in the country.
The staff at Fakulteta that have put so much time and effort into providing a solid foundation for the community’s children have all been retained by Concordia; their local knowledge, established local relationships and passion for the place is key to the success of the project.
We are looking forward to working with Concordia in the future and will continue to follow the progress of the Fakulteta Early Years Centre with real interest.
After a delay to last year’s playground project, work should being later this Spring. The playground will be used by Roma children from the Early Years Centre and their families.
Our Bulgaria team will concentrate on running and growing the House of Opportunity Programme. In addition to targeting the opening of more Houses, the team have also begun to run a drop-in service for older teens and young adults who have limited or no family support.
