Letter sent to Associations

TO ALL NATIONAL STUTTERING ASSOCIATIONS OF EUROPE

Dear Colleagues,

The 8th ELSA Youth Meeting, at Giggleswick, near Settle United Kingdom, 16-22 July 2011.

The European League of Stuttering Associations (ELSA) is holding a Youth Meeting in July 2011 at a location in the north of England. This is ELSA’s 8th Youth Meeting, the first being in Linköping at the time the World Congress in 1995, the second in Nijmegen in 1997, the third in Mullsjö, Sweden in 2000 and the fourth, fifth, and sixth again in Nijmegen in 2003, 2005 and 2007, the seventh was at Giggleswick in 2009.

This letter is addressed to the Boards/Committees and offices of every European National Stuttering Association inviting you to nominate up to four people between 18 and 26 years old who stutter to participate in the Youth Meeting.

The meeting will be 6 days starting Saturday evening 16 July and finishing Friday morning 22 July. The Meeting will consist of workshops, lectures, presentations, social outings and many other activities. The title of the Youth Meeting is

“The Right to be Heard”
Social Inclusion and Human Rights starts online

The meeting is aimed at young people who stutter who are thinking about volunteering to work for, or thinking of being a Board member of, their National Stuttering Association (NSA). At the meeting the young people will:

• Be able to network with other European people who stutter ,
• Learn about the work of the NSAs,
• Understand how worldwide and European legislation can help the NSA’s and what young people can do to help people who stutter of all ages,
• Learn how the use of online social media can raise awareness of stuttering.

The delegates will be able to share fears, frustrations and triumphs, practice their speech techniques in a secure environment and engage in speaking experiences that they would otherwise shy away from. It is hoped that the meeting will inspire the delegates to participate in the work of their own association, raise awareness of stuttering and importantly provide for personal development.

The Youth Meeting will take place at a public boarding school during the school holiday period. The school is very comfortable and has great sports facilities including a swimming pool which we will all be able to use, and is in the heart of the beautiful English countryside.

There are 36 spaces for young people who stutter. Nominations will be on a first come first served basis.

The Meeting will be part funded by the European Youth Foundation of the Council of Europe and ELSA and is therefore heavily subsidised.

The cost of the meeting is 120 Euro for the six days, this includes 3 meals per day starting with Saturday dinner and finishing with Friday breakfast.

All delegates will be able to claim a refund of up to 50% of their travel costs, based on budget flights with early bookings.

Accordingly, each National Association is asked to nominate four people and below are some guidelines:

1. Nominations for four people are required, two boys and two girls (of which 1+1 as reserves) to ensure a gender balance.
2. The Young People have to be between 18 and 26 years old on 16 July 2011.
3. The nominations should be made in a fair way. All people who stutter should be informed of the proposed Youth Meeting and the availability of funding. The choice of delegates each Association makes has to be fair. The delegates should be a member of their Stuttering Association.
4. All delegates must be able to speak English, this doesn’t have to be perfect but be able to communicate and understand some English, as English will be the working language. Each delegate will be expected to give some short presentations and will be expected to play a large part in the activities. Full respect will be given to each person’s speech.
5. Delegates who attended previous Youth Meetings or who don’t meet the age criteria are not eligible at this stage, but could be nominated as reserves. Should there be a shortage of applicants we will open the Youth meeting to these people.
6. Each delegate will be expected to make their own way to the Conference location at Giggleswick School, Settle, Yorkshire, England. Directions will follow at a later stage.
7. Each delegate must arrange for their own comprehensive travel and personal insurances.
8. The refund of the travel expenses will be paid after successful completion of the meeting.
9. Further details will be sent to each delegate after nomination and nearer the time of the meeting.
10. Delegates may like to take a look at the ELSA web-site www.stuttering.ws click onto “Youth Meetings” where information on the 2000, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009 Youth meetings can be viewed. On the website there is additional information for delegates on what to expect at the Youth Meeting
11. The application form is available at www.stuttering.ws/ym2011. Queries can be sent to the name and address below.

Anita S. Blom
Vättlösa, Källåker
S-533 91 Götene
Sweden
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Tel: +46-511 51504 , Fax: +46-511 50535, Mob: +46-70-5223916

Closing Date for the receipt of Nominations is: 13 May 2011

We look forward to receiving your nominations.

Yours sincerely,

Anita S. Blom (S), Edwin J. Farr MBE (GB), Richard Bourgondiën (NL)

For and on behalf of the European League of Stuttering Associations

PS Queries can also be made by Email to Edwin J Farr: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it