We’re delighted to tell you we’ve just completed the final report for the unforgettable week of cultural activity for 14 young Italians and 13 young Scots that was Youth In Action, August 2011.  The young people  worked intensively together on a British Council and European Commission funded Youth In Action Project called ‘Exploring Stories of Cultural Integration’.  “Allanton was an amazing experience, I’m missing you all so much”, as one young blogger wrote afterwards.

Our Schools Programme Manager Glenda Thornton led the project.  ‘The whole point,”she said, “was to give these young people – who were aged from 16 to 24 years old, and who come from very varied backgrounds, and who mostly didn’t share a language – a real experience of a different culture, and of reaching across those barriers.”

However, during their week at Allanton, the young people also had the opportunity to interview people who have travelled from far and wide to settle in Dumfries and Galloway. Karlis Prahms from Latvia told the Youth in Action group how he escaped from Latvia as a child with his family, knowing that if the Soviet army caught up with them they would all be shot.  Dumfries and Galloway Multicultural Association also provided the opportunity for a question and answer session with Sitki Nalci and hosted an interview session with six migrants.

We had a lot of fun too.  The Italian youngsters were introduced to our Ceilidh tradition by the young Scots, and had to be initiated into Scottish techniques for handling barbecues in the rain.  The end of the week, however, was marked in sunshine by a Flag Ceremony in the grounds of Allanton House.

The project, ‘Exploring Stories of Cultural Integration’ has been designed to encourage young Europeans to reflect on the topical subject of migration.  It aims to promote inclusion, mutual understanding and increased knowledge and awareness of cultures other than one’s own.

The Youth in Action programme has been set up by the British Council for young people in the European Union. It aims to inspire a sense of active European citizenship, solidarity and tolerance among young Europeans and to involve them in shaping the Union’s future.