Description
Project objective is to empower vulnerable groups by involving them in social activity and volunteering. In the Old Fordon, a dilapidated and peripheral district of Bydgoszcz, a workshop with DIY tools will be built. New DIY skills will be mastered there by a group of senior citizens and the homeless, who are a sizeable community in that area. Prisoners with good DIY skills from a neighboring correction facility will work as instructors in the workshop. Together they will do the work to improve the neglected area. Prisoners, seniors and the homeless will also initiate cooperation with the residents. They will try to overcome stereotypes that push them into exclusion. During meetings and consultations with residents they will jointly determine the goal and scope of work to make sure it is useful to the community. Experienced psychologists will assist participants in overcoming the prejudice and building positive relations.
Summary of project results
"Stary Fordon is Bydgoszcz's most neglected district. Originally, it was a town with a population of 9,000; upon having been made part of Bydgoszcz in 1973, it began depopulating (today: 4,000 residents) and degrading. Local trade fell, the unemployment rate is thrice that in Bydgoszcz in general (approximately 26%), 23% of residents are social welfare clients (6 times higher than the local average - “Stary Fordon - Reclamation 2013"" report). There is a penitentiary unit next to the market square, a central night shelter for the homeless nearby. The project purpose was to integrate local community members by creating a community workshop with open access to anyone willing to improve degraded surroundings. A workshop was formed as a venue for local residents, the homeless from the local shelter, and prison inmates with outside work permits. The workshop serves people interested in improving the district's quality of life. A group of 30 inmates, homeless, and local residents renovated a former bookshop (destroyed and unused for over ten years) and organised a workshop within. The integration process was supported by a psychologist (individual and group sessions). Participants jointly decided to develop a community garden - they set up 42 wooden crates filled with soil and plants in the local square. Six benches, 2 tables, and 2 dustbins were produced for the recreation area. A performance stage, nativity scene, and installation for historical reconstructions were developed on workshop premises, also used for craftsmanship and DYI classes and culinary meetings. Three local fetes were organised to show the workshop and its produce. Project beneficiaries included 30 persons (10 inmates, homeless persons and Stary Fordon residents each), and over 400 open event participants. The Bydgoszcz-Fordon penitentiary unit recruited 10 inmates for project purposes. The Bydgoszcz City Hall offered premises and a donation to purchase materials required for the workshop. The Residents' Council of the Stary Fordon housing estate facilitated contact with local residents."
Summary of bilateral results