The BEARR Trust Small Grants Scheme 2018
The BEARR Small Grants Scheme 2018 invited bids for grants for projects aimed at improving the employability of young people (aged 16-30) with mental or physical disabilities.
Grants were offered to organisations in any of the countries which BEARR covers: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
The BEARR Trust received a large number of applications for grants this year, showing the urgent need in the area chosen. 130 applications were received, from Armenia (4), Azerbaijan (1), Belarus (1), Georgia (2), Kazakhstan (7), Kyrgyzstan (14), Moldova (4), Russia (11), UK (3), Tajikistan (29), Turkmenistan (1), Ukraine (53).
Grants were offered as follows:
Friends House Moscow (Russia, Moscow) for the project ‘My Route to Occupation’. The NGO will assist disabled young people to determine a choice of occupation, prepare for job placement, including social integration where necessary. In the long-term they hope to establish a system for disabled young people aged 18-30 to choose an occupation and prepare for a job, involving training, inter-departmental coordination and a bank of information and training materials.
BelAPDIiMi (Belarus, Minsk) for the project ‘Identification of opportunities, development of work skills and accompanied employment for young people with disabilities’.As result of the project, at least 20 people with disabilities will be able to receive the service of accompanied employment; at least 30 people will receive consulting and training services.
KEDEM (Moldova, Chisinau) for the project ‘Find Yourself’.KEDEM plans to work with professionals, associates of NGOs, specialists who work with people with disabilities, and employers, as well as people with disabilities, who are ready to share their experience. There will be a 2-day retreat to create a list of companies ready to hire people with disabilities.
Psychoanalytic Association (Kazakhstan, Almaty) for the project ‘Training Café’. They are planning to organize a School of Social Entrepreneurship and Psychosocial Rehabilitation – a 6-day school for 100 specialists from Kazakhstan and elsewhere in Central Asia. The school is to provide participants with methods and techniques for opening social enterprises to involve young people with disabilities; and to use their methods and techniques to expand employment for people with disabilities.
Mayuboni Tavono (Tajikistan, Jonvarsuz) for the project ‘Training of professional skills for young people with disabilities’. The NGO plans to introduce professional skills for 30 young people with physical and mental disabilities in order to help reduce unemployment. Young people will be involved in training courses in making traditional clothes and crafts (knitting, weaving, embroidery). In addition all participants of the courses will be trained in business planning and marketing.
TajRupt (Tajikistan, Khujand) for the project ‘Enabling Tajikistani Youth with Physical Disabilities to Become Translators’. TajRupt intends to train 80 young people with physical disabilities who have demonstrated an interest in the English language to become translators and find employment in Khujand.
Open Doors (Ukraine, Nikopol) for the project ‘The employment of young people with physical and mental disabilities as an important way to realise their right to work’.With this grant the NGO will organise seminars for employees of employment centres and centres for social services as well as employers, on implementation of the constitutional right to work of young people with physical and mental disabilities in Dnipropetrovsk region. They also intend to organise public reception facilities and a hotline to provide free legal advice on employment of young people with disabilities in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Centre for Strategic Initiatives (Ukraine, Khmelnitskyi) for the project ‘Good chances for good changes’. The centre is going to organise baking classes and training on how to make packaging for baked goods for young people with disabilities. They will also provide assistance in selling products produced as a result of the training.
Aratta (Ukraine, Chernihiv) for the project ‘Productive Life’.The grant will be used to provide twenty 16-30-year-olds with mental and physical disabilities with market
required skills, such as English and computer classes; hair styling and manicure. They will also conduct a series of educational events aimed to empower people with disabilities
with basic knowledge on human rights and legislation in the sphere of labour (seminars on human rights, employment rights etc).
Public organisation of parents of children with Down syndrome (Ukraine, Lutsk) for the project ‘Providing social support and support in the workplace of people with Down syndrome’.The NGO will organise training for young people with disabilities and their parents, as well as potential employers. They will arrange for internships for candidates in the workplace under the supervision of a social worker, job coach and a psychologist.
ZtRASS (Ukraine, Zhytomyr) for the project ‘Through innovation to equal opportunities’. As a result of the project, 40 young people with special needs will be trained, they will acquire skills for self-employment and organization of their business.
