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Mentoring Circles™  - Implementation in Spain

During the month of May, Spanish partner of the project (CCSEV and INCOMA) have implemented the Mentoring Circles sessions in their country. These sessions have been targeted to women living in Spain but coming from non-european countries. 
A total of 7 women from all educational levels participated in the sessions. Different nationalities were represented, mostly south-American countries (El Salvador, Peru, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Paraguay) but also one woman from Kenya took part in the activity. 
Their motivations for attending these sessions were mainly related to the improvement of their skills for a better integration into labour market but also the need to foster networking, being active and engaging in new initiatives.
They all found these sessions very interesting and useful for their personal and professional development.

European Network of Migrant Women (ENoMW) delivered 4 training sessions in March 2019 in Belgium. 13 particiants from NGOs and civil society organisations participated in sessions. The majority of participants were aware of the opportunities one can gain through volunteering. They recognised volunteering as valuable as any other professional experience/traineeship. However, they have not used practical tools to make volunteering more formal and accountable. Therefore, they took good note of skill recognition and assessment tools, self-assessment and external assessment tools and tools for certification. Participants shared the information and the tools with their colleagues and started practicing them in their organisations.

Over the course of 4 Mentoring Circles, ENoMW hosted 5 migrant women who had a chance to tell their own life story, consider the options available to them, and create an action plan to help them move forward in their voluntary and professional lives, based on their specific needs and requirements.

CARDET has successfully implemented a series of meetings during May and June with women who have migratory biography and with whom they have managed to set some goals and next steps for them to improve their skills and to integrate even better in the Cypriot society. 
Through the methodology of Mentoring Circles™ that the project follows, five female migrants met four times and got the chance to discuss on the issues and problems they have faced when they came to Cyprus and/ or still face on their every day life. 
In addition, all of them had the time to express how they feel for being a part of the Cypriot society now, and with the use of non- formal activities, they obtained a better understanding on what they want and need to do in order to improve their skills and lifestyle. Also, during the sessions they practiced some mechanisms on how to cope stressful situations and how to react in others. 
According to their feedback, they have truly enjoyed this process and felt grateful for having the chance to reflect on their current state and think what needs to be done further to be integrated in the Cypriot society either through volunteerism and/ or their employment. 

On April 19 and 24 in Paris Elan Interculturel led the SMART Volunteering training for NGO organisations on how to better foster migrant woman  ! The participant attending the training came from the Social field, LLL education and Inclusion with a wide range of diversity in origins, age and educational background. Most of the learners where themselves migrants that created organisations to improve the adaptation process for newcomers.

For more information about the training for NGO organisations sector please click 

On May 15 in Paris Elan Interculturel led the SMART Volunteering awareness training for the Business Sector and Business advisors on how to better foster migrant woman in the labor market  !
We wanted to thank all of our participants for they commitment and involvement with the project. 

For more information about the business sector training please click

On February 19th 2019 at Elan’s office in Paris took place the first session of the Circle with 4 committed participants, we presented the purpose of the Circles and invite the participant to start thinking on a concrete aim / goal they wanted to achieve during this Circle. We work together for 4 sessions with different exercises to trigger self-reflexion, active planning and problem solving thanks to the rich exchange between participants.

Programma integra delivered the SMART Volunteering training for associations, NGOs and Third Sector in Rome during the month of May.
10 participants, all working in the migration sector, attended the 4 sessions aimed at transfer knowledge and skills to foster a smooth integration of female third-country nationals and to improve the transferable skills needed to achieve this goal.
Participants showed interest in the topics covered and recognized that volunteering is valuable as an internship experience. However, the economic factor and the lack of knowledge on this tool prevent its complete and optimal use both by associations/NGOs/Third Sector and by the aspiring volunteers. Finally, the transferred tools were highly appreciated by participants who expressed their willingness to use them in their work.

Materahub is going to organize the Mentoring  Circles™ in September, we will keep you informed!

The SMART Volunteering mentoring circles™ were conducted by Inova Consultancy Ltd in Sheffield, UK at the beginning of 2019. These circles included a small group of women who, together, became each other’s support network whilst they learnt the benefits of volunteering. The scheme involved a diverse group of women, including ladies from Indonesia, Chile, Mexico and Nigeria. The training ran for six sessions between February and March 2019 at the Inova Office (Leecroft House, 58-64 Campo Ln, Sheffield S1 2EG). 

These Mentoring Circles™ were a huge success! The circles helped the women to gain more confidence, discuss and be supported in their future goals, and learn how to use volunteering to benefit them in different aspects of life. The participants were also taken to a Volunteer Fair as part of one circle session, which allowed them to see all the volunteering opportunities Sheffield has to offer. This, along with the in-depth discussions during the circles™, has prompted many of the women to go on to volunteer, giving them great experience to use now, and in the future. 

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