Barka UK took part in the third Polish Diaspora Organisations Conference organised by the Consular Section of the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in London and Social Seed Media C.I.C. (The Publisher of the ‘Bo Warto’ portal). The project of organising the conference was funded by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, as part of a public task which involved assistance to the Polish diaspora and Poles abroad, and by the Polish Embassy in London.
The conference was designed to establish the most extensive cooperation by organisations, social groups and leaders of local initiatives of the Polish diaspora which took place during the wave of post-accession emigration of Poles to Great Britain. The theme of the conference this year was international cooperation between the Polish diaspora organisations in the UK – experiences, opportunities and difficulties.
The conference began with the welcoming of the participants by the Consul General. The first part of the event was a panel discussion in which representatives of Polish diaspora organisations with experience in foreign contacts and international projects took part.
Anna Maria McKeever – Barka UK
Karol Świącki – Ukraine Relief
Paweł Jeleński – Norfolk Polonia CIC
The issues of assistance to the Ukrainian population and effective project management were discussed, along with the process of creating valuable projects and tips for successful implementation. After a short break, there were presentations which had been prepared by the panellists. Barka UK’s presentation was given by Anna Maria McKeever and Jerzy Tymczak.
After lunch, another presentation discussed the obtaining of funds for the Polish diaspora, with applications possible through the Polish Consulate, along with the opportunity for international cooperation with the help of European international programmes.
The afternoon section of the conference consisted of a workshop, which involved the creation of projects in groups. Various project tasks were assigned to several groups, and these were then presented and discussed. The aim of the workshop was to transfer and adopt knowledge pertaining to the construction of projects, along with interaction between participants.
At the end of the conference, each participant received a certificate to show completion of the workshop. At 4.30 PM. there was an official summary of the conference: the participants were awarded certificates and also filled in the evaluation questionnaires. Finally, a photograph of all contributors was taken in the conference room.
