Empower DIsabled Through sport (EDIT) is a 24 months’ project in the field of Adult education, which aim to gain competences of Bulgarian NGO’s addressing the needs of adult learners with disabled from disadvantaged backgrounds. 

In the present case, Champions Factory is an international non-governmental organisation aiming to bring social change through innovations in education, training, youth, Adult and sport, carrying out its customary activities in Bulgaria, with its headquarter in the capital Sofia. 

In the capacity of NGO operating for the educational support to the audience of youngsters and young adults in the region, Champions Factory focuses on providing an educational approach based on sport to tackle the main pressing social issues facing nowadays the covered area of West Balkans.  

• CONTEXT 

Nowadays, one of the main problems of Bulgaria relates the necessity of higher social protection of disabled people. The reason is that disabled people are in a particularly unfavourable position as they are unable to secure for themselves the necessary conditions for individual and social way of life.  

Finding says: 

– Bulgaria has a systemic problem in providing an environment accessible to persons with disabilities (Report from the Commission for Protection against Discrimination of Bulgaria; 2018); 

– the poverty and employment gap for people with disabilities is also among the highest in the EU, signalling weaknesses in social protection (EU commission; Country Report Bulgaria 2018); 

– one of the priorities of the “national strategy for person with disabilities 2016-2020” is to provide access to sport and participation in cultural life. 

• OBJECTIVES OF PROJECT 

The objectives of project stems from the fact that Champions Factory wants to invest in the improvement of skills of their internal human resources to gain specific competences in addressing the needs people with disability, as described below: 

– competences to use of UE policies of Sport as a tool to break down social barriers for disabled in Bulgaria; 

– management of sport activities and events, also adaptive sports or parasports; 

– building up network among entities working in the field of Sport in a European perspective. 

• METHODOLOGY  

Using Coaching and mentoring skills from each partner to develop Sport’s Mentor of disabled people, able to exploit the power of the sport to ensure access of disabled people in a social inclusion and participation in cultural life. 

•MAIN ACTIVITIES 

The project will foresee in the context of the project no. 2 Training Courses and 2 Job Shadowing for Champions Factory regular staff, as follows described: 

-1 TC in Italy involving 6 Trainers of Champions Factory; Duration: 6 days+1 Travel day; 

-2 TC in Ireland involving 4 Trainers of Champions Factory; Duration: 6 days+1 Travel day; 

-3 job shadowing at MVNGO in Sassari (Italy). 

-4 job shadowing at the North Atlantic Basketball Academy (NABA) in Ireland; 

Both the Job Shadowing activities will involve 3 leading staff members of the applicant organization in a process of work-based learning, exchange of knowledge and partnership building, lasting 45 days.