Broadhaven - Broadhorizons (Wales 2004)
29th of July to 8th of August

About the project:

The exchange will take place in two locations Winchester and London in England & Broad Haven in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
This exchange will involve 10 young people from Norway, France, Estonia Wales and England coming together for ten days. Their time will be spent (2 days) in London exploring the vibrant urban culture of the capital, and for the remaining 8 days they will experience the rugged Pembrokeshire Coast through environmental work, outdoor and experiential group activities.

Motivation for the exchange:

- to offer these young people an experience that will have a lasting effect on their values and give them a wider perspective on life
- to raise the young people’s horizons
- to challenge their attitudes around oppressive behaviour
- to broaden their mutual understanding of the cultural, recreational, and educational activities of the
- young people from these different countries
- to encourage the development of personal contacts
- to encourage visits by young people to and from these areas,

Theme and content of the exchange

Young people from England, Wales, France, Wales Estonia and Norway will live together and share experiences for 10 days. Initially getting to know each other during the first two days urban experience in London, and then building upon this during the second longer rural phase based on the rugged Pembrokeshire coast of West Wales. This rural residential experience will be based around team building, developing friendships, video, computer and art skills, outdoor activities, environmental conservation work and experiential group work and games. During this time the young people will also explore together the attitudes of xenophobia, racism and the problems of accepting difference, that exist in their own countries.

Personal development.

The whole exchange experience for the young people will fall into the remit of informal social education, and fit roughly into the following categories of experience and personal learning, this will include:
- The intercultural experience of group travel
- Meeting, building relationships and sharing experiences while engaging with young people and adults from other countries, cultures and different religions
- The experience of group residential living itself
- Living in close contact with other people, (in adequate but certainly not luxurious accommodation) will be a learning experience for all of the participants
- Young people will: develop skills of tolerance and acceptance, working together as a team, art, design, video and computer skills and also for some cooking and general kitchen activities for the first time
- Widening the opportunities and broadening the horizons for young people.
- Nearly all of the English group will not have met a individuals or groups of young Norwegian, Estonian and maybe even Welsh young people before
- During their time together all of the young people will encounter new experiences and activities, which will be physical, educational and emotional, which would be unlikely outside of a Youth Exchange setting.
- Visiting an urban city environment and also rural areas of outstanding natural beauty and difference
- All of the participants will experience the emotional process of moving on and saying goodbye to new friends
- Many of the young people involved will learn new communication skills, both verbal and visual with someone from another country and culture
- Again this year, the staff, will learn a great deal about the way young people from, not only different countries, but also different cultures and backgrounds of youth provision interact and respond to a group living and travel situations.