Eurodesk

Bridges Project is an active Eurodesk local relay.  This involves the provision of information and advice to local young people and agencies who want to find out more about opportunities for travel, work, study and volunteering in Europe and beyond.  The Eurodesk service links Bridges with hundreds of youth information points in the UK and Europe through a very extensive intranet system where information on opportunities for young people and staff is exchanged.  Early alerts are posted about new funding streams, and a massive database gives direct access to the relevant European institutions, funding streams and new policy developments.  Bridges Project disseminates this information to partners and will post items such as requests for European partners from local services on the intranet system. 

Further information about Eurodesk can be found on the following sites:

www.eurodesk.org.uk

www.eurodesk.org

Staff Development

Bridges Project encourages staff and volunteers to become involved in training, exchange and collaborative working within the European arena.  The Youth in Action Programme and the SALTO Programme have enabled staff to travel to Finland, France, Italy, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia, Greece and Germany to meet, train and provide training for peers.  Staff have benifitted greatly through their involvement with European workers in the development of professional approaches and subsequent improvement in practice.

Youth Exchanges 

We are able to assist young people who use the services to plan and undertake Youth Exchanges with other groups of young people from across Europe.   Bridges Project believes that such involvement improves the self-esteem and confidence of young people and improves their chances in the labour market through the development of core and basic skills involved in the planning process.  The exposure to different cultures, languages and habits is of immense value in the development of life skills.