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TRAMP – Transnational Mobility of Older People in Europe
120 Part II
Cooperation Partners
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The selection of cooperation partners has to take place at an early stage
of the project so that all participants can prepare themselves. Since commitment
and reliability are essential factors during exchange programmes,
it is advisable to revert to familiar partners or to select these with special
care. Furthermore, it is important that beneficiaries appreciate the efforts
in order to maintain the motivation of the young and elderly for further
projects.
Possible partners and thus venues include schools, nurseries, youth centres
or other educational facilities. These often require renovations of the buildings
or the outside facilities (e.g. the schoolyard) or at least a number of
practical jobs.
On no account should the projects serve to undertake obligatory duties of
local authorities. Voluntary work should not substitute salaried work by
professionals.
Many schools have their own workshops, which might also be suitable as
project workplaces. In individual cases, missing tools can be obtained with
private loans.
Note that schools or youth centres often do not have the sufficient means
to purchase supplies. Sometimes these can be financed via an associated
sponsor. Local companies can also be involved in the projects as sponsors
for materials. This can be achieved with relevant PR work, which mentions
the sponsors. Even if local companies or firms can be won over as sponsors,
the project budget should include some means needed for the manual
work.
Partners abroad can include different institutions: senior citizens’ organisations,
educational institutions, social organisations, volunteer organisations
etc. All these partners provide different requirements and experiences
regarding the organisation and implementation of exchanges and
emphasise different features (travel, education, voluntary service,…). These
differences must be defined and integrated into the further planning
procedure.
“Senior citizens” are not a homogeneous group. While looking for cooperative
groups of elderly people abroad, you come across groups aged
between 50 and 75, male or female dominated groups, different social
backgrounds, people with a preference for lighter manual work or a preference
for stonework. The selected subprojects should ensure a pleasant and
willing involvement for all concerned.