END-YEAR NEWSLETTER

Dear supporters,
What a great year it has been for the work of The Ideas Partnership!
During 2016, we have implemented  activities such as: weekly literacy and numeracy classes for more than a hundred children per week, kindergarten for seventy children every day, ante-natal classes for more than thirty women per week, physiotherapy sessions for ten children per week and so much more.  All this is all thanks to our amazing donors, volunteers and supporters.
Thank you!

SOME OF OUR GUESTS THIS YEAR

      

Here at The Ideas Partnership we receive many guests all year round: people that want to know more about our organization and our activities, people that want to help us out by supporting different projects and activities. The most common remark that we get from our visitors is always how impressed they are by the many fields that TIP works in. During this past year we have been delighted to welcome HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, the British singer Joss Stone, ex-Secretary General of NATO Lord George Robertson and many volunteers and supporters.  Come and see us anytime!

ACTIVITIES THAT STARTED IN 2016

Music activities in Fushe Kosove

From October onwards, we started organizing music classes with children from Fushe Kosove. This initiative was made possible with the help of our volunteers who once a month take their music instruments and make music together with the children who seem to really enjoy this activity.
 
Roma language in Fushe Kosove
 
Some volunteers offered to start classes in Roma language for children in Fushe Kosove, increasing the number of children we’re able to reach and offering new learning opportunities at our centre. This activity started in October and is held on Sundays.
 
ERASMUS+ PROJECTS
 
The Ideas Partnership has been very active in implementing projects financed by the European Commission Erasmus+ programme. Our volunteers and other young people from Kosovo in general were able to participate in two different projects, one organized in Kosovo and the other in Hungary.
The first project was “Being the change and making changes happen” youth exchange which brought together 52 young people from Kosovo and Belgium in order to share their views, culture and traditions.
The second project was Step by Step Intercultural Learning on gender equality which took place in Pilismarot, Hungary and aimed at tackling issues relating to gender, and sharing of practices in Kosovo and of other countries such as Hungary, Italy, Malta, Russia and Moldova. Six participants from The Ideas Partnership attended this training.
 
FUNDRAISING INITIATIVES
 
With almost a third of our funds coming from private donations, fundraising initiatives are a very important part to keep our projects running. During the year, we have organized a fundraising event in the UK helping our midwifery project, two other events in Kosovo and another one in the UK supporting the kindergarten in Fushe Kosove. With the help of some of our amazing volunteers we have also organized a few more events collecting clothes and food for the families in need.
 
SA-PUNË FAIRS
 
Sa-Pune, our social enterprise project is still one of The Ideas Partnership’s main ways of supporting the women from the most excluded communities by helping them sell handmade soaps, tote bags, lavender bags and jewellery so that they can have a sustainable income to help their children through education.
During the second part of the year, with help from our volunteers we managed to organize two fairs in the main boulevard in Prishtina. We sold lots of products and all the profit from them went right back to the women, to help them raise their children and keep them in school. Click here to find out more about Sa-Pune and if you want to place orders.

 

WHAT WE HAVE PLANNED FOR 2017 

The kindergarten, which has been one of our most successful activities, will be our target for two new activities. The first one is the Green Club, where children will learn to be more aware of protecting the environment. The second activity, which will be restarting in early January, is Yoga classes with the kindergartners, helping them develop body awareness and improve attention.
We will also be supporting 10 blind people to have Braille education, opening a world of reading and learning to them, and meaning we’ll be working in a new location within Kosovo – the municipality of Gjakova.
 
A BIG THANK YOU TO OUR DONORS WHO MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE: