Upcoming Erasmus+ Projects
Current youth exchanges: ERASMUS+ YOUTH EXCHANGES – If you are interested contact us here
How do I get involved?
Are you a young person in Norfolk who would like the chance to experience and learn from other European cultures? If so, getting involved with Norfolk Youth Projects will give you the chance to make this dream a reality.
We support young people who become involved with our organisation to design exchange programmes and apply for the funding to make it happen.
We know that there are many young people in Norfolk with fewer opportunities; some living in remote rural communities and some with educational, social or financial difficulties that would benefit greatly through cross cultural learning experiences.
Through designing the exchange and not just participating in it, the young people we work with learn a whole new range of skills. Some have even gone on to sit on our committee and be responsible for the work of the organisation.
Young people are always welcome to contact us at any time to get involved in planning an exchange. On top of this, you can join our organisation and come to our regular meet ups in Norwich or our residential weekends in Norfolk which we hold three or four times a year and where ideas for new exchange projects always start to flow.
How do these exchanges work?
Funded through the European Youth programme Erasmus + we have organised more than 60 youth exchanges involving more than 300 young people from the UK and 25 other countries.
These exchanges come under two categories:
- Youth exchanges within the European Union, and the rest of the World; opportunities for young people between 15 and 25 years to experience intercultural adventures in Norfolk and around Europe
- European Solidarity Corps gives young people the opportunity to volunteer in another country.
Youth Exchanges
Youth Exchanges offer an opportunity for groups of young people from different countries to meet and learn about each other’s cultures.
Our youth exchanges aim to promote one or more of the following themes:
- Fostering young people’s sense of European citizenship and help them to understand their role as part of the present and future of Europe
- Reflecting a common concern for European society, for example: racism, xenophobia and antisemitism, and drug abuse
- Promoting European values, such as equal opportunities, human rights and democracy, and respect for other cultures
- Having a European interest, such as EU enlargement, European institutions, or European projects
What are our youth exchanges like?
Youth exchanges that we have done in the past have typically involved 10 – 15 young people from Norfolk, and a similar number of young people from four or five other European countries. These young people have designed programmes with fun and innovative structured activities in areas such as arts, crafts, drama, music, and sports. These activities are designed to promote the theme of that particular youth exchange using innovative, non-formal, ways of learning. Our exchanges normally last between 7 – 14 days. When we have done exchanges based in the UK, we have included visits to Norwich, the Norfolk Broads, the Norfolk Coast and both Cambridge and London.
European Solidarity Corps
Norfolk Youth Projects also offers European Solidarity Corps, which gives people from Norfolk the opportunity to volunteer in another country and people from all over Europe the opportunity to volunteer in our organisation. We are a sending, hosting and coordinating organisation for the EVS.