The Microfinance Centre regional microfinance resource center and network
LEarning, Teaming up and Saving – SAVing groups for Employabiliy and Empowerment, in other words LETS SAVEE, is a new project which MFC is coordinating. The project aims at exploring the potential of saving groups in the European countries context, for improving low income and marginalized group entrepreneurial skills and access to finance.
In the current European context, poverty and debt are growing problems, the labour market changes dramatically, and social exclusion is on the rise. Vulnerable groups (e.g. migrants/newcomers, low income or poor unemployed, people with unstable jobs and microentrepreneurs) need specific skills to deal with these current challenges.
The LETS SAVEE project aims at developing an innovative methodology for a hands-on-experience training opportunity for adults from vulnerable groups to develop skills like entrepreneurship, financial literacy, cash flow management.
This two-year initiative is led by MFC in partnership with 6 organizations:
- Stichting Cash2Grow from the Netherlands
- Asociación CAF,Comunidades Autofinanciadas from Spain
- SavingBuddies e.V. from Germany
- FUNDACIO PRIVADA SERVEI SOLIDARI PER LA INCLUSIO SOCIAL from Spain
- LAB.IN.S Società Cooperativa Impresa Sociale from Italy
- The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS)from the Netherlands
7 project partners will use LETS SAVEE as a learning platform to develop and test innovative training curricula. To carry out the project partners will organize four learning events at European level for their staff. The learning events will include study tour visits to organizations experience in running the saving groups and will cover the following topics:
- Entrepreneurship and Employability (Spain);
- Financial literacy (Italy);
- Integration of refugees (Germany);
- Savings groups outreach strategy (the Netherlands).
At national level, the project partners will organize events, disseminating project results, including the methodology for managing the saving groups.
The project’s partners prepare case studies to popularize their experiences of facilitating savings groups in their countries, feel welcome to get to know them:
…more coming soon…!
In February 2020 we kicked off with the project and all of the partners discussed e.g. project objectives and outcomes and project timeline. All of the organizations presented themselves and their expectations towards the project.
See the photo gallery:
