21.05.2021
Young people from Szczekociny received the keys to their Place!
We have been waiting a long time to hear this good news. We are very happy to announce that Basia Winiarska and Mariola Minor – graduates of the Szczekociny School Complex, employees of the Town and District Administration Office, and Julia Makowska – president of the Student Council, have received the keys to the Place. Thanks to our cooperation with the office and the school, young people have their own space where they can organize social initiatives they care about. The Place is located in the Szczekociny School Complex, near the Municipal Public Library.
How did this idea – creation of a Place in Szczekociny – originate?
It all started in 2018, from a group of students and a series of animation and research activities organized by the Shipyard Foundation on EFC Foundation’s request. One of the conclusions drawn from the ‘map of needs and potentials’ created during those activities was that young people from Szczekociny needed a place where they could meet – a place of their own, where they could feel at home, free to implement their ideas, develop their interests. ‘The Place in Szczekociny is symbolic. Young people should feel that they are responsible for something – they need a sense of empowerment. We believe the Place will become a space where they can develop and focus on what they are interested in, what they enjoy, what they consider most useful for them and the people around them’ – said Urszula Arciszewska, coordinator of the EFC Foundation program.
Today, several years from that diagnosis, the Place has finally started to operate. The first meeting is set two weeks from now. We shall work on the Place’s manifesto and arrange it in accordance with the participatory budget. We are also looking forward to our first meetings and workshops for young people conducted by our partners, such as the Shipyard Foundation, Klaster Innowacji Społecznych, and many other institutions.
We are very proud that young people from Szczekociny may start implementing their own projects and contribute to the development of their local environment.