Project
Friends We Share
Wellbeing Programme for Refugees with Role Models and Mentors
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The Friends we Share Project aimed to develop a mentorship methodology to connect new asylum seekers and successfully integrated refugees in order to foster a sense of belonging, self-reliance, and wellbeing. To achieve sustainable progress in providing mental health protection solutions to refugees, the project also aimed to qualify Adult Educators and Policy Makers involved in their social inclusion, to transform systems and professionals into facilitators of self-fulfillment. This project's purpose was to produce the following concrete results:
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the “Friends we Share Connection Programme”, an intervention methodology to promote mentorships between successfully integrated refugees and new asylum seekers to foster a sense of belonging, wellbeing, motivation and increase self-esteem;
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the “Friends we Share Training Programme” to train and qualify agents involved in the inclusion of refugees and
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"Friends We Share - Overview and Lessons Learnt Report” Readers of this report will learn about the project’s greatest achievements and the outcomes developed within it, as well as the methodology that served as our guide in creating educational pathways leading to the well-being of refugees.
OBJECTIVES
The Friends we Share Project aimed to achieve the following objectives: - Connect new asylum seekers and successfully integrated refugees in European countries, to boost cooperation, peer learning and exchange of experiences between individuals, to create and promote learning opportunities among cultures, citizens and generations. With this objective in mind, participants were paired in mentoring groups during WP2 in “Friends we Share Connection Cafes”.
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Promoted awareness on the correlation between refugees’ exclusion and specific sociocultural circumstances by mapping the experiences, knowledge, skills, and human capital developed by successfully integrated refugees, to improve the competences and range of action of adult education staff. So, the “Friends we Share Training Programme” were informed by the data collected by the consortium in WP2.
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Developed learning tools informed by the specific needs and contexts of refugees for Adult Educators and Community Social Workers, focused on how to include mentors and role models in their intervention with new asylum seekers and what is the core knowledge, skills and competences that allowed successfully integrated refugees to thrive, and how they promoted those skills in their intervention with new asylum seekers.
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Trained and qualified agents involved in the inclusion of refugees, to transform professionals into facilitators of integration. With, the main result of WP3 “Friends we Share Training Programme”, an eBook was compiled, and national training events and an LTTA will be conducted by the consortium to pilot the materials and directly intervene with adult educators still during the progress of the project.
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Raised awareness at local/national/European levels for the importance of the development of sustainable refugee inclusion action plans, with the main results of WP4, social media and e-Newsletters, the Refugee Identified Wellbeing and Inclusion Good Practices” Report and the "Friends we Share" Seminars.
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Overall, fostered agency, empowerment, built confidence and promoted the resilience and wellbeing of new asylum seekers by creating a support network between them and successfully integrated refugees, by enhancing Adult Educators and Community Social Workers capacity to promote inclusion and diversity in education and training settings and by encouraging the involvement of policy makers in refugees’ inclusion and wellbeing protection.
TARGET GROUPS
Participants and target groups from various levels were involved in the project so that the methodology developed can be accessed by both within refugees’ communities and support systems. Therefore, the target groups were:
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Adult Educators and Community Social Workers working with Refugees (Case workers, Health Professionals, Psychologists, Trainers, etc.)
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New asylum seekers - Successfully integrated refugees - Refugee Relief Organisations and NGOs working with Refugees
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Policy Makers Project participants were not only target groups but also were involved in planning and design, especially, asylum seekers. Participants’ views were considered and they were also be involved in decision making regarding how the project was to be run.