Beverley’s French Connection

A Beverley youth worker hopes sharing knowledge with a French counterpart can lead to a greater understanding of Europe-wide issues affecting young people.

Sue Dudill,  Youth Volunteer Adviser and Youth In Action Promoter with CSV East Riding, has invited French Youth Adviser Denise Martin to Beverley as part of the European Union’s Youth in Action programme.

Denise will job shadow Sue for the next two weeks with the aim of learning new ideas and ways of working with young people between the ages of 16-25, particularly on how to involve them in volunteering, on both a local and European level.

The pair first met in 2007 at a seminar in Burgundy, France, on rural issues facing young people, at which Sue was a presenter. Subsequent trips saw Sue take five young people and three youth workers to France, where their relationship was cemented.

Sue has just returned from Montbrison, where she represented the UK on a training course on Project Management in the frame work of the Youth in Action Programme. All the projects are funded by the European Commission’s Youth Programme.

She told HU17.net:

“I have an interesting fortnight of activities and visits lined up for Denise, which I am sure will be worthwhile and productive.

“We are also planning more co-operation on a European level during our time together.”

In February next year, Sue is taking a young person from Beverley Joint Sixth to a Partnership Building Activity in Serbia along with partners from Lithuania, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Georgia, Russia, Macedonia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Croatia.

The theme of this is how to include more young people with fewer opportunities into the programme.

* Youth in Action is the programme the European Union has set up for young people. It aims to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young European citizens and to involve them in shaping the Union’s future.