Peer Education - a Pan European programme - PEPE

Actonym: PEPE
Start: 01/10/2009
End: 30/09/2011
Duration: 24 months

Target group: People who are facing particular difficulties in the labour market, including workers and employers of SMEs, those with special needs, older learners, immigrants, groups facing socio-economic disadvantage, those with few or no formal qualifications, looked after children, travelers, refugees, those with disabilities and minority ethnic groups.
In BG will be tested with People with hearing impairment

General overview:
Aim: To widen access to training and employment using a Peer Education support methodology

This project aims to address some of the issues faced by people furthest from the labour market and those who are experiencing difficulties in gaining or retaining training or employment due to a lack of appropriate personal skills and behaviors.

The Peer Educator training course is a planned and structured course lasting 30 hours and ideally delivered over 5 consecutive days or two periods of 2/3 days. The facilitator or trainer guides the Peer Educators in how to identify appropriate games and exercises to meet the personal development skills needs of the target groups such as communications, self-esteem, team building, problem solving, appropriate behavior, time-keeping and after each exercise or training session the outcomes are discussed and usefulness or otherwise of that particular exercise agreed.

Over the 5 days the Peer Educators become more and more self-directed with the facilitator being there mainly for advice rather than for directed training. The trainees will all be trained Mentors and therefore will already have undertaken training in communications, listening, confidentiality, safety and boundaries which are all critical to a successful Peer support relationship. The Peer Education course takes the mentoring relationship further in that the Peer Educators will actually be delivering Personal Skills training to the target groups through games and exercises chosen to meet the needs of the particular groups they are working with.

Peer Educators will then work with the target groups for 1 hour sessions on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

Peer Educators will always work in groups of two or more and the sessions with their mentees, usually a small group of 4-5, will always be thoroughly planned and discussed with their supervisors who will also undertake a full evaluation and de-briefing after the session.

The participants from the target groups will complete evaluations on how they felt about the sessions and their trainers and or employers will be asked to report on changes perceived in their behavior and where they feel difficulties are still apparent. The Peer Educators will then target future sessions at these needs.

Partners: 7, UK, BG, CY, GR, IT, DK, PT