Running Successful Circus Mobility Workshops by Circus Central

Running Successful Circus Mobility Workshops

Shared Treasure Additional Resources

Running a Successful Mobility

CONTENTS Page

1. Background to this Document

2. What this Document is for

3. What this Document is not for

4. Source of our Content and Findings

5. Selecting a Date

6. Selecting a Venue

7. Selecting Your Target Participant Cohort

8. Selecting the Hosting Theme and Workshop Content

9. Planning for a Genuine Cultural Exchange

10. Planning the Hosting Timetable

11. Delivering the wider Hosting Timetable

12. Managing Participants Expectations

13. Pre-Hosting Communications with any ‘Sender-Partner’

14. Hosting Communications with any ‘Sender-Partner’

15. Planning the Knowledge Transfer Aspects of the Hosting

16. Planning the Delivery of the Content of the Workshops

17. Planning the Logistics Management of the Entire Hosting

18. Planning for Participants Accommodation

19. Planning Catering and Food: Eating In

20. Planning Catering and Food: Eating Out

21. Transportation Considerations

22. Planning for the Safety of the Participants

23. Planning for an Aﬀordable Experience for the Participants

24. Planning for a Financially Sustainable Hosting

25. Evaluation

26. Beware of Areas of Conflicting Thoughts/Expectations that may create Friction

27. Things we wish we had not done

28. Planning for Post- Mobility Marketing

29. Planning for a Post Mobility Legacy

30. Associated Documents and Use Of Our Material

Example - Behavioural Guidelines when Travelling Abroad & Representing your Country

Example - Travel Instructions

Example Prospectus

! ENCI

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Running a Successful Mobility

! RUNNING SUCCESSFUL CIRCUS MOBILITY WORKSHOPS:

1. BACKGROUND TO THIS DOCUMENT This report is one result of the Leonardo European Union (EU) funded project 2013–2015 called the European Network for Circus Interchange (ENCI www.circusnetwork.eu). The project involved some 100+ individuals in the counties of; Belgium, Czech Republic, Hungary, Spain and the United Kingdom. The purpose of the ENCI pilot project was to; increase cultural understanding of and between the partner countries; to increase and share circus skills amongst individual students, teachers and artists; to increase and share the knowledge of the host partners with regard to hosting circus mobilities; and to create stronger bonds between European partners and European individuals. The target outcomes were: improved skills and increased creativity, productivity, sustainability, employment and harmony. There is a short vocabulary key in section 30 of this document. 2. WHAT THIS DOCUMENT IS FOR The purpose of this document is to support future European cultural exchange and skills sharing visits. We have captured the host countries experience of hosting circus-based mobilities over the past two years and now seek to use that knowledge to help improve and support future circus mobilities. The aim is to share our learning so that; future projects are more likely to succeed, future participants are likely to benefit further, hosting organisations are likely to benefit further and funder’s investments are likely to show improved outputs, outcomes and social returns. We have tried to make this a practical paper with action points. 3. WHAT THIS DOCUMENT IS NOT FOR We are not seeking to advise anyone on how they should run specific projects – clearly the parties to any project will meet and discuss their ideas about how their project should work, from financial and partnership level through to delivery level and participant interaction. Each project will have a range of requirements that will influence any plans made – as such we are not commenting on how you shape your project in order to meet funders or your own requirements. Nor are we suggesting that the results of our feedback are statistically significant in any way. This exercise is a piece of empirical work that is a general reflection on our lessons learnt and an outline of how we would approach mobility programmes in the future. Most of it seems like nothing more than common sense – but we feel that host organisations would have been able to create a better experience for everyone if we had had such an outline to consider before planning our mobilities – especially those considering hosting mobilities for the first time. 4. SOURCE OF OUR CONTENT AND FINDINGS The data used to produce this report has been gained from 6 ‘observer reports’ created during visits to 6 of the 12 mobilities hosted under the ENCI pilot project and 12 sets of participants feedback from 12 different hostings. The observer reports detailed feedback on all aspects of the delivery of the hostings. We also undertook feedback exercises from participants to understand what aspects of the delivery were working for them – and what might be improved. We have used that information along with the experience of the host countries, in hosting their own mobilities, to create this report. It is an approach that you might like to consider if you want to avoid some of the mistakes that we made and replicate some of our successes. 5. SELECTING A DATE If you have choice over the selection date we recommend you consider the following: • Check the circus community calendar – make sure your dates do not clash with any large-scale events that will reduce the potential of your project to attract a wide range of participants. • Remember that artists are busier during the summer months due to festivals.

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• Make the cultural exchange richer by checking your local circus calendar to see if you can link the beginning or the end of your mobility hosting to a circus festival, convention or show – remember, artists like performing, so see if there is an opportunity for them to perform at any local events. • Make the cultural exchange richer by checking your local cultural calendar to see if you can link the beginning or the end of your mobility hosting to an interesting cultural event. • Check all your staff/helper holiday plans – a mobility hosting is not a time to be dealing with staff shortages 6. SELECTING A VENUE Clearly your chosen venue needs to be fit for purpose and due to funder requirements and operational imperatives; you may not have a choice about the venue/location of your mobility. However, if you do then these are the additional criteria that our participants have told us you need to look for: • Somewhere close to tourist sites of interest. • Somewhere close to restaurants and places to eat – affordably. • Somewhere to shops for people to buy their own food and supplies. • Venues that facilitates a good culinary experience (see section 19 and 20 on food and catering) • Free Wifi – reliable with a good signal – this is vital. Teachers and artists need regular access to their emails in order to manage their income streams – being out of touch and missing potential work opportunities is very stressful for them. • Venues where the temperature can be easily/well regulated – this is important because participants are engaged in an intensive experience that will involve them placing more pressure on their bodies than normal – proper temperature control can support energy levels and help avoid injuries. • Participants enjoyed the experience of working in different venues – consider whether there is an opportunity to increase the richness of the experience by using more than one venue. 7. SELECTING YOUR TARGET PARTICIPANT COHORT Expecting a teacher to lead a successful hosting where he/she has to work with a group made up of a range of ages, abilities, disabilities, experience, skills and general fitness and health is problematic and likely to result in dissatisfaction from all involved. So you will need to decide (early on) what groups you can/cannot include and be clear about that when marketing the opportunity. This is something that needs to be thought through before you apply for funding/put your budgets together – because there will be financial costs attached to being more ‘open’. For example, you might be keen to work with a group of experienced adult aerialists and want to include the disabled. In order to include disabled people you must provide parity of opportunity in the sessions – this may require additional support or different/modified equipment – which will be a cost. It is one thing to tell funders you are offering equal opportunities to all – but another to deliver it – so it is vital to be clear about what groups of people your cohort will be comprised of (before you apply for funding/allocate budgets). The other aspect to think of (especially in an open call out) is the level of commitment required from participants. If you are funding a hosting from your own monies or providing a ‘paid for programme’ where participants pay the full cost of their involvement than you can tailor the experience to meet the wishes of the participants alone. However, if you are spending tax-payers money and have funders to account to then participants must have a strong level of commitment. A funded place on an EU learning programme is in part a knowledge exchange and learning process, in part a cultural exchange, in part a networking exercise and hopefully an uplifting, enjoyable and fun experience. But it is not a vacation – it is, and should, be hard work and it is important to be clear to potential participants about that if the project is funded by taxpayer’s money (see section 12 of this report – about managing expectations).

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These are the things that we think are important to consider: • Consider what level of skills, ability and performance experience you are going to deliver to – beginners, intermediate, experienced or professional. Some subject matters/skills have different amounts of ‘stretch’ in that they can be successfully delivered over a number of differently enabled groups – others will benefit from a more focused approach/ narrower cohort. • Think about what age groups you want to focus on – again some subject matter works with a mixed group and some do not – and the combination of adults and children does need appropriately managing around issues of content, Health & Safety and child protection. This may mean an additional cost to the project so needs determining at the outset. • Think through what level of ability you want to focus on; able bodies, physically disabled, learning difficulties – again there are cost implications if you are going to do it right. • Think about fitness and energy levels – it is vital that the group work together with some positive and united momentum so potential participants need to be encouraged to consider if they are fit and energetic enough for the proposed timetable. • Think about the level of commitment needed – if this is a project funded by the tax-payer then you need to make it clear that there will be expectations of the participants that involve full days of work; some evening work; a level of completing feedback forms and being fully engaged in all the workshops and evaluation sessions. • As an international offering you are likely to attract people whose first Language is not English. You will need to be clear about what level of English will be required – and any support available (if you have a particularly generous funder or budget then you may be able to get all your written document translated and perhaps get translators involved). • Create a comprehensive application form that gives you all the information you need to decide who to accept. 8. SELECTING THE HOSTING THEME AND WORKSHOP CONTENT Participants liked hostings with a strong central theme and cross cutting themes – they said they processed the learning better than if they had just attended a general skills convention. We would approach this part of the planning in the following way: • Agree a theme – for example some of our themes were: act creation, developing and selling shows, working with children, multi-media in circus, working with the disabled, aerial convention, juggling convention, fire arts. • Think about exploring different practical and theory aspects of that theme in order to provide the richest experience – for example it’s; practice, performance, physicality, theatricality, methodologies, risks, legal implications and regulations, commercial opportunities, social benefits, and pedagogies. • Create a framework of thinking around the theme so that teachers are able to articulate concepts, ideas and theories at verbal, visual and physical levels. • Select themes you know you can deliver well by ensuring the right venue, equipment, experienced people, and teaching expertise. Circus is an infant industry so you may work with teachers who are less mature/experienced than are found in some sectors – make sure that you put in additional support to help those teachers. • Choose teachers and session leaders you know and work well with – on a one-off short hosting you do not have the time to ‘form’ as a hosting unit – you need to start your hosting with a strong team that work well together. • Choose teachers whose work you know is of a high standard – there will be an expectation of quality on the part of the funder, the participants and the sender-partner. And on a one-off short hosting you will not want to have to find and/or make teacher replacements – it is costly, time consuming and participants find it unsettling.

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• Choose reliable teachers and agree paid contracts – using volunteers to support the hosting works really well but it is important that key people are appropriately remunerated if you are to ask for their full commitment. • Ensure you factor in non-physical sessions in order that participants get appropriate levels of recuperation rest. • Look for ‘added value’ – what additional sessions can you give participants; for example: avoidance of injury sessions; dietary and nutrition advice; inspirational talks; relaxation coaching; physiotherapy and/or massage sessions – other cross cutting themes that apply to your hosting but that are transferable to other aspects of the participant’s life or work. 9. PLANNING FOR A GENUINE CULTURAL EXCHANGE Our funder wanted our circus mobility to be a cultural exchange – but if it is not an imperative of your funding, it is often an expectation of participants. One definition of culture is ‘the ideas, customs, social behaviour, artistic and academic endeavours of a particular people or society’. It gives great scope to deliver on the concept of a ‘cultural exchange experience’. We took feedback to understand what people wanted from their time in our country – based on that research it seemed that people wanted and liked the same things. They were keen to know: • What we eat: (see section 10 and 20 on catering and eating) • How we get around our cities: (see section 21 on transport) • How we have fun: we tried to link our hostings with a range of shows/events in the evenings (and either side of the hosting) so that people could get a flavour of what local people do with their leisure time • How we work: for example, in some metropolitan cities the speed of life is faster than that of some rural – we reflected that in our different hostings. • How we fund our work and earn a living: each host country gave short presentations on how circus is funded in their country as an art form – and we talked about other forms of funding of our work. We also had round table discussions about how individual circus artists earned their living in circus on our various countries. We tried to ensure that the host team were local people so participants could question them on life in the host country. Travelling from one venue to another around our cities allowed us to give something of a guided tour at the same time. It is helpful to be able to answer questions – so once you have your daily travel plan in place you can make that journey first to identify buildings/places of interest and understand their background/history and relevance. Newcastle hosts made their hosting very ‘local’ in terms of community feel. They lodged participants with local families (see section 18 on accommodation) and made the workshops memorable by making participants gifts of handmade notebooks with their agenda in: participants said they felt welcome and cherished. Some participants expressed a desire to have more time to see more of the host country – we encouraged this by suggesting that they take additional days either side of their mobility – and chose accommodation that offered that opportunity. 10. PLANNING THE HOSTING TIMETABLE Participants have told us that having a timetable is vital – it helps them to 1) understand how the marketing description of the hosting is translated into practice 2) decide whether or not the hosting is an appropriate one for them 3) have a sense of control over their time. They liked having the timetable before deciding whether or not to become a participant and they told us that they liked timetables to be adhered to. Participants also like the idea of cultural and social events being organised for the evenings – but they also like the idea that some were optional so that they could take time out for additional rest and to catch up on personal administration etcetera. • Complete timetable planning before marketing the opportunity so you can include the timetable. • Start each day with an onsite breakfast – it ensures everyone gets nutrition into them prior to physical exercise – and if there are late arrivals then their lateness impacts less on the commencement of the group activity.

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• Plan your timetable with the lead teachers – they will know what they will be doing within the sessions, how the rest/ cultural and social plans can fit best with the workshops and the level of rest the participants will need. • Remember people are involved in demanding physical work, so they will need regular breaks during the day. • Plan a good balance between hard physical aspects and breaks – and non-physical activities. • Plan in some physical relief – remember that the workshops will be physically demanding – for example, Hungary were able to offer their world famous spas so trips were arranged there; London had an onsite sauna for the use of participants and other countries offered (paid) access to their physiotherapist and masseurs. • When planning in travel – be clear that you have factored in the right amount of time – a trip by public transport might take one person 20 minutes but it will take a group of 20 considerably longer. • There may be those needing additional support to keep up with the group or to focus on developing one aspect of their work – so consider if it is possible/necessary to build in a little time for that – for example delivering the workshops on a 1many basis but using say 10% of the time to allocate to 1–1 focused time. Alternatively you might allocate an hour a day for free time for practice – where the lead teacher is available to work on a 1–1 basis whilst people practice. 11. DELIVERING THE WIDER HOSTING TIMETABLE Don’t underestimate how much work is involved in a hosting. You need to; liaise with teachers/participants about their needs, buy/manage catering, prepare documents, organise transport, deal with illness/first aid, liaise with sender-partners, host evening events, take participants on trips, and generally mix with participants for feedback and make them feel welcome – and you have to manage all your organisations other day-to-day activities. Participants said it is easy to be confused when in another country, doing new things with new people – particularly when timetables/arrangements change – so investing the time in getting planning and timings right means you will be less likely to have to make changes at the last minute or during hosting. There were no teacher cancellations but partners expressed concern at the impact on the hosting if that had been the case. Delivering the whole hosting package is a logistical challenge but with some good planning and some extra bodies to help it can work very well. If we were to do this again we would ensure that we: • Plan and budget for one paid staff member/experienced person to act as a coordinator/facilitator to run the mobility from beginning to end. This gives reliability and continuity and it reduces duplication and errors. • Keep to the timetable wherever possible – if there are any potential changes then tell all participants (together); what the change is, why it has been made and any impacts on them. If changes are significant – redesign the timetable and circulate a new one to avoid confusion and misunderstandings. • Get a fall back plan in place for teaching if your lead teacher becomes ill or delayed in some way. • Get an appropriate cultural visit planned so you have an ‘off the shelf’ solution to any ‘surprise’ timetable gaps. • Ensure that the coordinator/facilitator and the teacher do a feedback session at the end of each day to understand any issues that can be dealt with and/or manage any unrealistic expectations. 12. MANAGING PARTICIPANTS EXPECTATIONS People need to be told many times before they fully process information – and unfortunately people do not read everything that you send them. This can create huge problems for the project because if people come with expectations that the project cannot meet. Those participants will be unhappy and that could influence; their enjoyment, their learning, their commitment, their impact on the group – and potentially the entire hosting. The only way this can be managed is by good communication and this needs to start early, continue throughout and be delivered in different ways. When we undertake another mobility project we will do the following:

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Ensure participants understand the purpose of the wider project; who is funding their place and why

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Ensure that participants know this is a transnational project and ‘experimentation’ is part of the experience

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Ensure participants know all about the organisation that they are visiting well before they arrive

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Ensure that participants know as much about the hosts as possible

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Ensure that participants know as much about the host country as possible

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Ensure that participants come with an open mind about experiencing different teaching and learning styles

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Be clear and honest about our expectations of participants

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Commence our expectation management at initial marketing stage and manage it throughout the hosting

12.1 Using the initial marketing to manage expectations: •

Market early – create a ‘save the date’ and follow up with more detailed marketing when you offer is firmed up

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Generate maximum interest so you can select those who best fit the cohort profile and will thus benefit most

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Market the mobility opportunity clearly, accurately and in detail (see Example Prospectus for some ideas)

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Be clear about what participants can expect from the mobility

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Be clear about what participants should not expect from the mobility

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Be clear about any standards of fitness, experience or skills you require from the participants

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Be clear about your expectations of participants commitment and involvement during the mobility

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Be clear about what is being paid for on their behalf, what is free and what they will have to pay themselves.

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Be clear about what is optional and non-optional – verbally, in writing and on the timetable

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Encourage those wanting time to explore their own cultural interests to make time before/after the hosting

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If a mobility is an intensive high energy one with few ‘free sessions’ and a full time commitment then say so

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Plan to explain your expectations in your marketing pack, then reinforcing it throughout the hosting process

12.2 Using your partners to help you manage expectations: Share the above with sender-partners to create a consistent message about what to expect from the mobility 12.3 Using the application process to further manage expectations: • Start managing participant expectations early in the process by making the question ‘what 5 things do you aim to get out of this experience’ part of the application process. This will help you to understand if the needs of this person fit well with the delivery programme you have designed. You can use the feedback to make final modifications to your programme if that works – or take the opportunity to correct unreasonable and unrealistic expectations prior to signing up the participant. • Introduce the matter of evaluation – make it clear that there will an opportunity and an expectation regarding considered and thorough feedback.

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• Keep your application form as succinct as you can and ask clear questions that require clear answers – thus avoiding potential for misunderstandings. 12.4 Using a welcome pack to further manage expectations • Sending out one single welcome pack will save a lot of time and the participants get a connected through understanding of the hosting early on. • Our welcome packs varied but generally included: welcome letter, curriculum and timetable, guidelines on ‘how to behave on a foreign mobility’ (see Example Travel Instructions for ideas), map/directions to the meeting venue and/or hotel and a contact sheet – some partners also added a copy of whatever marketing material went out. Looking back we think that a one-page document on our organisation and our relationship to circus would have been useful. • Get welcome packs out in good time – about 4–6 weeks before – that way you can answer participant’s questions in good time. • Include the most up to date timetable and make your timetable visually clear and easy to understand. 12.5 Using your welcome talk to manage expectations • We found that it helped to reinforce the information given in writing – so at our welcome talk we discussed the funders, why they were funding this work and what the hoped for outcomes were. • We talked about how participants could get the most out of the hosting and how they could help us do our best. • We talked about timekeeping and that they should expect us to be quite directive is we were going to get through the items on the timetable. • Explaining that different teachers, just like different directors have different ways of getting the best out of people is helpful. It ensures that participants understand that different working/teaching styles is part of their experience. We encourage participants to ‘go with the teacher’ and trust the process that they have created. 12.6 Using your co-ordinators and teachers to manage expectations We talked to our teachers to discuss the fact that many participants will come with their own expectations. We talk about managing expectations by encouraging participants to express their expectations and hopes for outcomes at the beginning of the workshops. That way we can help them achieve what they want – or if that is unrealistic, we can encourage them to reshape their hopes. 12.7 Using breaks to manage expectations We used breaks in order to warn people if it seemed that anything might change. As soon as anything changes or times slip we told people what the change is, why it is being made and how it will impact on them. It changes were significant we would recreate and reissue the timetable. 12.8 Using feedback sessions each day to manage expectations We recommend using end of day sessions to discuss how people felt the day went for them. This allows teachers and coordinators to pick up any expectations that are not being met – or any that are unrealistic. 13. PRE-HOSTING COMMUNICATIONS WITH ANY ‘SENDER-PARTNER’ If your project is being run in partnership with another/other organisation/s in another/other European countries then you will need to work closely with them to be clear about where their responsibility ends and yours begins. In our experience it is helpful to:

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• Discuss and agree any funding matters regarding who pays for what: what you provide for free, what you will charge the sender-partner additionally for, what the participant is expected to pay for – and what the sender- partner will pay for. This is very important not just for operational reasons but also in terms of managing expectations of the potential participants when marketing the opportunity – participants do not like financial surprises – and as hosts you will need to work to a firm budget. • Be clear about when the responsibility of the sender-partner ends and the host-partner begins. It makes sense that the sender-partner deals with the travel to the host country – and that the host-partner looks after the participant thereafter. • Get the marketing information to the sender-partner well in advance of the hosting – ideally about four to five months prior to the planned hosting. In any event a minimum of three months so that the sender-partner has 6 weeks to market the opportunity, giving you 6 weeks to liaise with all the participants and finalise travel and accommodation plans. Anything less is going to make it hard to fill the participant places and may impact on the quality of service you provide to the participant prior to the hosting. • Ensure that the sender-partner is responsible for getting all the information required from the participant (the application form) – they have put the person forward, they know them, and most importantly they are more likely to speak their first language – so there is less opportunity for miscommunications. • Ensure that the sender-partner is responsible for all the travel bookings – and checking that their participants have the correct travel visas. • Ensure that the partner-sender allows adequate time for travel so that the participants can ‘fully’ participate in the workshops. Finding that people will be arriving late or having to leave early is extremely disruptive for the hosts and reduces the quality of the workshop for the remaining participants. 14. HOSTING COMMUNICATIONS WITH ANY ‘SENDER-PARTNER’ If your project is being run in partnership with another organisation in another European country then you are responsible to them to take good care of the participants that they send to you. This means keeping in touch with the ‘sender-partner’ if any issues occur – this involves: • If a participant does not arrive at the agreed arrival point at the time expected. • If a participant goes missing at any time during the hosting. • If a participant is injured at any time during the hosting. • If a participant becomes ill at any time during the hosting. • Setting a full time staff member on the task of locating, contacting and supporting the missing participant (at worst they will be in trouble and need your help – at best they are in danger of not having ‘completed’ the mobility so the senderpartners would not be able to draw down the funding allocated to that participants place on the project). 15. PLANNING THE KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER ASPECTS OF THE HOSTING • Since people process information in different ways and have different learning styles it is important to present information regularly and differently. • It is important that the teacher is not just physically and creatively skilled in their chosen circus discipline, it is also important that they know how to communication their knowledge verbally as well as by demonstration. • Good notes for participants so they can reflect more easily – make sure teachers/leaders of the workshops are happy to provide notes and make sure you include the provision of notes in their payment contract.

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• Short feedback sessions at the end of the day encourage people to ask questions and share thoughts – verbalising your thoughts about what you have learnt helps process new knowledge. 16. PLANNING THE DELIVERY OF THE CONTENT OF THE WORKSHOPS The teaching and learning workshops that make up the majority of the hosting are the most important part of the experience – however, they are less complex to deliver and manage than the social, cultural, catering, accommodation and evaluation aspects of the hosting. The following approach works well: • Be clear about your vision for the hosting – share this with lead teacher/s – and come up with a teaching plan • Create good clear notes – with diagrams and/or photographs where possible • Talk to the participants for whom English is not a first language and make sure that you are communicating in a way that they find easy to understand – some of our participants said that if they didn’t understand they felt a bit uncomfortable asking for things to be repeated. • Engage the most capable, experienced, reliable and appropriate people to deliver it • Make sure teachers are committed – this may or may not involve paying them but it is important to consider that artists and teachers need to earn a living and it may not always be realistic or even fair to rely on someone who is not being paid. • If you need to separate people into ‘working groups’ for the purposes of teaching styles or organisational requirements then make sure you plan some ‘group activities’ and perhaps some activities that purposefully place people with those from different groups. Participants have told us that they hope to be able to work with everyone on their mobility – not just a small group. 17. PLANNING THE LOGISTICS MANAGEMENT OF THE ENTIRE HOSTING The feedback that we got from our participants was that the attitude of the hosting team was a very important part of the success of their mobility. Good organisation, warmth and helpfulness were expectations of all the participants – and they were very happy when they experienced it. However, it is not easy to provide organisation, help and hospitality on a parttime basis, so these are our general tips for the overall management of the hosting: • Focus on the fact that this is a ‘hosting’, not a series of workshops; treat participants as your guests for their time in your country – try to anticipate their needs – but also check regularly if they need anything. • You will need someone on this full time – you can’t rely on workshop teachers to manage the wider mobility – it is not their area of expertise and may distract them from their main responsibility – the delivery of workshops and knowledge transfer. • You can cut costs and improve service by appointing one or two ‘volunteer-participants’ to help to cut costs. For instance on this project mobilities were only funded if they involved the travel of one artist from one partner country to another partner country. So, in the absence of funding for our own local people to attend the workshops, London charged UK participants from the UK to attend. However, we offered them free places if they agreed to be ‘working volunteers’ as it were. They acted as volunteer support co-ordinators – in that they attended all the workshops and other events – but they helped in the evenings with taking responsibility for helping people with travel, accompanying them to social events, and managing the cultural events and visits that took place outside our work-space. They were involved in the planning and were trained as support co-ordinators. This freed up the co-ordinator-facilitator for some rest time and to catch up on anything urgent that had come up in her day-to-day role at the circus.

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18. PLANNING FOR PARTICIPANTS ACCOMMODATION It is important that people feel comfortable whilst away from home, but the aim of mobilities is to connect people. It is also important to remember that you may have a range of people, from those who are used to communal living to those who are uncomfortable with it – some people will be travelling as life-partners and may prefer to share a private room and some people (the writer) snore very badly and prefer to do that alone. There was a range of preferences amongst participants but a shared dislike of hostels with large mixed sleeping halls. There are many reasons why people need to be in control of their sleeping arrangements – so choice is important. However, all our participants enjoyed the concept of ‘sharing’ – even those who preferred separate sleeping arrangements wanted the sense of connectedness and said that they wanted to be able to spend social time together. So although one size will not fit all on this matter – it is clear that a sense of ‘community and togetherness’ is called for. During the mobilities that we ran there was a range of offers: staying on-site at the venue, lodging with local people, hostels, house hire and hotels. On balance something like a small good quality hostel with a range of room choices or Airbnb-type/ other whole house rentals seems like the option that would offer most of the things that participants told us they wanted – it offers a sense of community as well as potential for privacy and choice. The things that our participants told us were most important to them were: • Affordability • Ease of travel from the accommodation to the workshops • Options for single, double and shared accommodation • Good standard of cleanliness: clean sheets, bathrooms and floors • Comfortable beds • Potential for a sense of community living • Ability to store/prepare own food • Wifi that also worked in the bedrooms • A shared social space • Good showers with unlimited hot water; circus involves a huge amount of exercise and it helps the conviviality of the group to provide them with adequate bathing facilities • Ability to book additional days either side to extend their stay in the host country Early research on accommodation is recommended – as is a visit – not all is as it seems on the internet and once people have arrived it is difficult/expensive to make changes. One alternative that worked well for our Newcastle hosts was accommodating participants with local families – participants could not stay in the same house – but it gave a richer cultural experience and wider sense of community belonging. Participants contributed in the region of £15 a night for food/energy/ laundry and the families they stayed with shared in the hostings social/cultural evenings. 19. PLANNING CATERING AND FOOD: EATING IN Food is vital for body energy and repair, its a universal sign of welcome, it offers opportunity to share cultural experiences and a chance to bring people together. Participants reported that they associate food with warmth, welcome, caring and love. They said it was a very important part of a circus mobility – indeed the food was noticed and commented on by our participants and it mattered enormously to them. Having onsite food is great because it saves time, it ensures that everyone is back at the same time to start the afternoon workshops and it allows us to control the type of food – thus meeting any special dietary needs and it keeps costs down. Participants like it because they like the social aspect of communal eating

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and it helps to make their funds go further (even if you ask for a contribution to food supplied onsite, it is going to cost less that eating out). You will know of any allergies if you include it in the application form questions. We found that if you offer a vegan and a vegetarian option, with fruit, then that tends to give enough choice for people to avoid their allergens. Most hosts took a ‘picnic’ approach to the provision of in house food – sufficient choice meant no ‘special meals’ had to be provided. Those with extreme dietary needs are usually quite experienced in catering for themselves so ability to prepare your own food is ideal. Our 12 workshops suggested that here is a larger proportion of vegans and vegetarians within the circus community, compared to the wider population. All participants reported that they benefited from vegan and vegetarian options but fish and meat eaters reported that although they were happy to eat vegetarian food, they often found vegan food unappetising. Some participants reported that they choose to keep their weight down through low carb diets – and of course there is a need for protein when engaging in physical exercise – so take that into account. •

Offer onsite eating wherever possible

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Offer simple onsite food preparation wherever possible

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Offer a simple but tasty onsite breakfast; it ensures everyone is on time for the days first workshop

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Ensure day long refreshments offering hydration and nutrition are available

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Provide access to tea and coffee throughout the day – remember vegans like an alternative to milk

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Remember to cater for vegans, vegetarians, fish and meat eaters

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Keep a good balance of fluids, carbs and protein for people involved in physical exercise

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Consider a hot soup option at lunchtime – particularly after exercise

20. PLANNING CATERING AND FOOD: EATING OUT Participants reported that they enjoyed eating out – they were particularly interested in ‘traditional food’ and ‘traditional experiences’ as part of their cultural experience. Participants said that they found it hard to know where to eat in a new city – especially when they had limited time to research good local cafés and restaurants. They valued getting good advice that was appropriate to their dietary requirements and budget. There was a strong feeling amongst participants that eating together was a great opportunity to network, learn more about each other, develop potential to create work together and enrich the wider cultural experience of the hosting. Our research indicates that the following will help create a good culinary experience for participants – and an easier and more successful experience for the hosting country. • Plan for and encourage people to involve themselves in communal eating. • Create a location map of good café’s/restaurants and their: food types, price ranges, level of formality and whether they are/do vegan, vegetarian food. This does not have to be an onerous or extended task – people are only going to be with you for a few days and many of those evenings there will be compulsory and optional leisure/culture activities planned. • Consider your country’s traditional dishes/eating traditions and try and plan them into the wider cultural schedule and breaks and treats. • Consider trips to local food markets – for shopping and eating experiences. • Talk to potential partners – local university cafeteria offer a great choice at great value – and the universities may welcome the opportunity to help host a European Cultural Exchange. • Planning joint eating at the beginning and at the end – the beginning creates a good sense of togetherness from the outset and a shared meal on the last night is always a popular way of people saying goodbye to each other.

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• When hosting a large group people tend to split into smaller familiar groups – even if they do really want to mix more, so group meals are a chance to get people to move places between courses in order to widen/strengthen connections – this is particularly helpful at shared meals at the start and the end of the hostings. • Finances can be an issue – you need to understand people’s financial limitations – but at the same time you can’t account for all financial limitations or there will be an issue whereby the cultural experience of the group is determined by the member with the smallest travel budget. It is best to 1) try to offer eating out options that are culturally appropriate, meet dietary needs yet are still delicious, good value for money and affordable 2) manage any expectations at marketing and application stage – so that people can take into account the additional cost of both compulsory and optional aspects of eating out when planning their personal budgets. 21. TRANSPORTATION CONSIDERATIONS The logistics challenge of getting everyone in the right place at the right time should not be underestimated. We had lots of mishaps so we hope the following heads-up will help you guard against it. • Whenever possible the sender-partner should arrange and pay for the travel to the host country. This guards against participants making errors or not buying tickets for travel in time. • Don’t assume that people will have all the necessary travel visas to attend your hosting – they may have non-European passports or certain countries may have altered their rules around travel – so it might be wise to check whether they have the necessary documents to travel to your country. • People feel comfortable if they know well in advance what the position is regarding travel – ensure this is in the initial welcome pack. • Be clear about when the responsibility of the sender-partner starts and ends and when yours begins – agree at what point the participants become the host countries responsibility. • Don’t underestimate the amount of time it takes to get large groups of people on/off transport – people return to retrieve things, loose their tickets, use the loo, twist their ankles, stop to look at something amazing or generally just dawdle. In planning our timetables we timed our trips then added about 25% more time. It worked well. • Don’t set out on a trip as the leader of the group without knowing exactly where you are going and exactly how you are going to get there – it really annoys people. • Remember to check if there are any transport delays before you set out – double check taxi-bookings etcetera. • People like clarity when travelling alone – make sure that people have clear, accurate and detailed travel instructions if they are not being accompanied. • Use the need for travel during a mobility to enrich the experiences of the participants – be inventive about the types of transport you use so participants get a rounded experience of your country/locality transport system. We used: foot, bicycle, bus, taxi, boat, tram and train. • Make sure that people are aware of any transport costs that they will be expected to meet – you should be able to be exact about that once you have set your timetable. • Reserve some of your own funds to pay for alternative transport for the participants if you make a mistake in calculating travel times or need additional transport. 22. PLANNING FOR THE SAFETY OF THE PARTICIPANTS The safety of the participants may or may not be your legal responsibility, but it is a moral one, so there are a few things that it is important to consider:

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• Give clear instructions/directions so participants always know where they should be/what they should be doing. • Make two named host people responsible for the wellbeing of the participants on a 24/7 basis throughout the hosting – make sure that all the participants have those people’s names, email and phone details. • Being safe means staying out of hospital – so conduct a risk analysis on your activities. • Being safe means keeping out of the law courts and avoiding high risk behaviour – see Example Travel Instructions, created for the participants sent from London – this was replicated/modified by partners for the participants they were sending from their own countries). 23. PLANNING FOR AN AFFORDABLE EXPERIENCE FOR THE PARTICIPANTS There are considerable differences between the costs of travel, food and day-to-day living in some countries and capital cities, compared to others in the EU. This can result in a mismatch between what £1 would buy in the UK and what £1 would buy in, for example Hungary (various Cost of Living comparisons suggests London prices are three times that of Budapest). This might create issues – depending on how the mobilities were funded – we did what we could to help participants save money. Our initiatives, combined with the suggestions of participants are as follows: • Plan everything at a detailed level so that there are no financial surprises for the participants. • Fully cost out funds needed by each participant and make that clear to potential participants at marketing stage. • Plan your travel alongside your timetable – so that you understand the cheapest way to cover your participants travel costs – instruct them on the cheapest travel tickets to purchase once they arrive in your country – be very specific about what tickets they have to buy/what the tickets are called/how to buy them/what to pay. • Offer in-house catering throughout the day – participants may or may not be asked for a contribution to cover costs, depending on your funder budgets and rules. • Try and make the social evenings as affordable: research free events, bulk buy tickets etcetera • Make costly activities optional – participants wanted the opportunity to see circus shows and be involved in cultural activities but they wanted to be able to turn down that opportunity if they wished. 24. PLANNING FOR A FINANCIALLY SUSTAINABLE HOSTING It is really easy to plan a hosting – then find out that it cost you a lot more than you had planned. The areas where we underestimated or forgot to cover costs were: • The time involved in the hosting – we severely under estimated the cost to the organisations of employing someone for the time required to plan, manage, facilitate, record, and administrate the hostings. • The time involved in administrating the mobilities – we severely under estimated the cost to the organisations of employing someone for the time required to market, manage, facilitate and administrate the mobilities. • The time involved in the administration of the grant and the work on reporting – we severely under estimated the cost to the partners in employing someone for the time required to attend partner meetings, manage the grant, create the required content, and complete necessary documentation required for the conclusion of the project. • We overlooked the need to pay for staff and volunteer costs when attending shows and off-site social meals when accompanying participants.

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Remember to budget for: • A gift for the host organisation – since it was a cultural exchange each country took something as a small traditional gift such as a food or drink delicacy from the sending country – usually between £5.00 – £15.00 and preferably something that can be shared. • Emergency costs: taxi costs, flight delays, baggage lost, excess baggage fees, etcetera. 25. EVALUATION Evaluation can be seen as the ‘yawn’ part of projects – we think this is a challenge that projects must tackle. Evaluation is the main chance participants have to influence the way in which mobility opportunities are shaped in the future; it helps them feed into a circus-sector support system and to help it become fit for purpose. The other challenge with evaluation is deciding whether to facilitate a feedback session towards the end of the mobility or ask for feedback online at a later stage. If feedback is given post-event then it is often hard to get responses – and of course if those responses take weeks or even months to come in then they are not fresh – and are unlikely to be as detailed as feedback that comes from a fresh experience. However, some would argue that if it is done directly post- event (in a facilitated session) then that does not allow sufficient time for the experience to ‘settle’ and for the participant to consider their thoughts. It is important to give considerable thought to what you want out of an evaluation – and which approach will best achieve your aims. We see both sides of the debate, however, on balance we think a facilitated feedback session towards the close of the hosting gets the best result for the following reasons: • It guarantees that your funder will indeed get an evaluation from each and every participant • It guarantees that you will get feedback on your part in this work and any feedback you want over and above that required by your funder • It allows the participants to clarify any issues that they are having with the questions posed – so there is less of an issue with participants misunderstandings confusing the results of the evaluation • It deals with the fact that in an international mobility project you are likely to have a preponderance of participants for whom English is not their first or even second language – those who struggle with English can be assisted in person and those who cannot speak English can be supported by a translator • It saves time and money – your administrators will not have to spend time creating feedback monitoring lists and chasing participants up for their feedback after the event There is a responsibility on the organisation conducting the evaluation to make it as productive and enjoyable as possible and having talked to our participants about what they liked and having assessed what worked for us we recommend you consider the following: 25.1 Measure what you want measured: you will of course be measuring what your funders want you to measure and your funders will be very clear about that but you may want to take the opportunity to get your own feedback for other fundraising or strategic planning. For example, one of our hosts is about to complete a funding application for the improvement of their creation and practice space – so they sought feedback from the participants as to what improvement would have the most impact on their work. 25.2 Simplify it: only ask one question at once – keep your questions very simple and clear. 25.3 Facilitate it: appoint someone experienced in managing feedback processes to lead – someone who is positive and can deliver with some energy so that the process moves on and participants are focused in their thinking. 25.4 Make it nice: think through how the evaluation might be made pleasant – comfortable seating, tasty snacks, perhaps background music or some mediation beforehand.

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25.5 Make it interesting: use this as an opportunity to serve your participants with some culturally appropriate culinary reminders of the host country – for example in the UK we provided Afternoon Tea – with scones, jam and clotted cream, tea and Pimms. 25.6 Talk up ‘evaluation’ as a process: explain the importance of the participants considered thoughts – that they will be used to change the ways that mobilities are run in the future – emphasise the benefits of ‘having a voice’ in what is provided for you and for the circus sector. 25.7 Consider on-going evaluation throughout the project: Other forms of evaluation to consider is that of ‘on- going evaluation for improvement’ – that is to say something like a five minute feedback session (a sort of ‘running mini-evaluation’ process) at the end of each day (with the co-ordinator and the teachers). This helps the lead teachers ‘tweak’ things on a daily basis, thus making incremental improvements – and it saves time by allowing a short space of time for everyone to speak to a member of the host team – rather than lots of people trying to access the coordinator and teachers individually. This ‘group feedback’ method also allows the teachers and the coordinator to reach a group consensus when one is needed and for group decisions to be made. 26. BEWARE OF AREAS OF CONFLICTING THOUGHTS/EXPECTATIONS THAT MAY CREATE FRICTION We experienced areas where there was direct conflict between what some participants wanted – there was no ‘compromise’ because each group had polar-opposite views. As such we had to take a view as to which option was the most appropriate to the hosting and in future we will be very clear about why and how that decision has been made – and we will ensure that those items are fully covered in the initial marketing, the welcome pack and the welcome talk. The issues we faced where we had to take a view were: 26.1 Timekeeping: some participants wanted a more relaxed approach to timekeeping – others liked the fact that they knew exactly what they were doing/when they were doing it – and the fact that it let them plan their personal tasks into the remaining time. More people liked strict timekeeping than not – so we tried to ensure that everything happened when it was planned to. Strict timekeeping annoyed some participants slightly – but we don’t feel it reduced their overall enjoyment of the mobility and it did add to the success of each individual planned experience. 26.2 Relaxed and multi-choice on travel: some participants said that they preferred to travel together and others said that they would like their own choice of travel between activity locations. For example most participants really enjoyed the boat journey (it was top of some people’s list for cultural experiences) but some said they would have preferred to take a faster route between venues, such as the train, and then have more time to relax on arrival. It would have been impossible to please both groups unless we allowed everyone to make their own choice about their chosen method of travel. Having a relaxed approach to travel is a luxury that not all host locations can offer and it is important to understand the limitations of a location before considering a relaxed approach. The ability of a host to offer choice and options around relaxed travel works well in a small town like Leuven or in a small city – where the distance between venues are short and journeys are uncomplicated. However, if it were offered in London, then there would have been considerable logistical issues and we would not have been able to meet the plans of the timetable. If you do opt for a more multi-choice and/or relaxed approach to travel between locations then make sure that you leave plenty of time for additional delays within the timetable. 26.3 Volume of ‘work’ that will be done: attitudes to the amount of physical and other ‘work’ varied considerably across the number of participants on the wider project. Some disliked early starts (09.30 or before in the morning) and some disliked late finishes (after 6.00 in the evening). This presented considerable challenges since we were unable to deliver a ‘compressed day’ (perhaps with shorter and/or less breaks and/or a short lunch break) due to the physical nature of circus. The high content of physical work required more frequent and longer rest periods – so a late start and an early finish would result in a day of work activity that would not allow the teachers to deliver sufficient learning. Furthermore, many participants said, that although the week was intensive, they were prepared for that and sough the learning and the work over the option of the rest and additional personal time. So we had a challenge of a combination of ‘morning people’, ‘evening people’ and people who would have preferred more personal time. In the main we stuck to a 9.30 – 5.30 day with breaks throughout – which people responded to well, despite their timing preferences. We took the view that this was not a time of rest – other than appropriate rest and recuperation periods and we did push people to work harder that they might whilst in their home town. The participants were very good natured about this and everyone engaged with enthusiasm – but

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we think it is important to stress the ‘intensive’ nature of circus mobilities as early as possible in the process and then throughout. 26.4 Visiting Tourist places V non-tourist places: Most participants said that they didn’t want to ‘go to the usual tourist places’ and wanted a cultural experience that was more about how real people lived in the host location. This was a challenge because in small places like the Newcastle location or the Leuven location, a rich cultural experience can be achieved in a relatively short space of time because the towns and cities involved are so small. However, for places like London that is quite hard to achieve over a few days. We think this matter is best determined by the size of the host location and the number of people in the mobility. The secondary issue is that although people said they wanted a ‘non-tourist’ experience – they also said that they wanted to see places of beauty, interest and cultural significance – which makes it very hard to avoid ‘tourist spots’ – since that is essentially what ‘tourists’ want as well. A small location with a low number of participants can deliver a much more targeted experience for participants, whereas a large location with a high number of participants will need to take a more populist approach if it is to please most of the people, most of the time. This challenging aspect of the mobility – how the individual gets the cultural experience that they seek in order to meet their varied personal expectations is linked to the final point below (section 26.5 Time to explore the culture of the host location at leisure) – which may offer the best solution. 26.5 Time to explore the culture of the host location at leisure: We agree that there is a huge amount of learning to do in just a 5 days (our mobilities were in the region of 7 days long with 5 days of fully programmed activity and one day each end for travelling and getting checked in/out). Some participants said that they wanted to learn as much as they could during the mobility – in terms of new skills, developing existing skills and creating stronger networks. Others said that they would have preferred more time for personal exploration of the host location. We think that the only realistic way around this issue is to recommend that those who have a particular interest in a location should be supported in arriving a few days before the official mobility date and/or staying over for a few days afterwards. This option needs to be included in the initial marketing material and participants should be encouraged to spend a little longer in their host location at that time. That way the sender-partner can liaise with the host-partner about the need for additional accommodation and any other advice/ introductions the participant might find useful in pursuing their own specific areas of interest. 27. THINGS WE WISH WE HAD NOT DONE • Underestimate the time and manpower required to manage a good hosting and/or good mobility – you should not plan a hosting to coincide with one of your own productions or events, it is too high risk – something will go wrong, and you will be too busy to rectify it in the way you would want to. • Underestimate the number of times and different ways you need to communicate information to participants and potential participants. This point is linked to the above in that you will need to allocate resources to answer a lot of questions via email and phone – none of which you expected, because you put all the information in the marketing materiel and booking documents that you sent out. • Be careful about trying to provide no cost/low cost accommodation. We offered free accommodation on one of our London hostings – the aim being to save people money, since we realise that London is an expensive city and we wanted to create parity of opportunity on eating out and discretionary spend whilst in the city. All we could offer was the use of our yoga room as a hostel – we provided clean bedding and mats to lie on, duvets and the use of a kitchen, loos, shower and sauna. The other alternative was a local hotel charging about £30 a night each for a 3 people-shared room with an en-suite bathroom. The difference between the two was marked. When we asked them how they would rate their accommodation those who stayed at the hotel gave an average of 9/10 for their ‘accommodation experience’ and those who stayed for free in our Yoga room gave an average mark of 4/10. Conversely the hotel was easy for the Host – it had just involved booking and getting repayment from the participants whereas organising onsite accommodation took a day to sort out. Then there was the additional cost of taking the yoga room out of use for the week meant a potential loss of income of up to the host of £576.00 and a cost of £220 laundry for loaned duvets and bedding. This is a huge problem if the host organisation is being judged on the satisfaction of the accommodation – perhaps less of a problem if they are not – but needs serious consideration.

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28. PLANNING FOR POST- MOBILITY MARKETING You and your funders will likely have a number of reasons for capturing visual evidence/reminders/illustrations of the mobility and its workshops. However, hosting a mobility is time consuming and you are likely to have to deal with a number of incidents or participant needs that are unplanned. As such ‘remembering’ to get photographs, film and audio footage of your mobility is not a reliable approach. Our experience suggests that you: • Think about how best to share the experience of the workshops – if it is a difficult thing to explain in words then consider filming your workshops and cultural experiences. • Think through potential future uses for any audio/film footage of your workshops/mobility so that you ‘plan to get that outcome’ – be clear what ‘success’ looks like and articulate it into words and ‘for examples’ so that those capturing and creating the content get a good grasp of what you are looking for. Think about what you would like to use the footage for – consider; evidence for funders, future funding bids, marketing materials, training tools, newsletters, mementos of the beginnings of new relationships. • Think through the best ways of guaranteeing that you will get that result: consider using a ‘volunteer-participant’ (see section 17 – point 3) to capture aspects of the hosting for you. Alternatively, if budgets will allow, employ a professional to attend sessions and create the visual and audio content you need. If you want a professional job, but do not have a budget – talk to local film clubs or universities who may have a film club/student need for work experience. Universities have an on-going need for practical work-based experiences for their students (but this required some future planning – so don’t leave that part of the planning to the last moment if you want to get the most out of the students work). Be clear about the brief that you give to whoever is undertaking this task – and put it in writing so that you and they are clear about your output expectations; if you have time look at the rushes and give feedback about what is being captured – editors are limited by the content captured and you want to make sure that they have the best opportunity to create the pieces of work you need. 29. PLANNING FOR A POST MOBILITY LEGACY Our experience suggests that if you want a legacy from your project then you need to talk about that with project partners from the outset – that way you can work towards achieving your shared longer-term goals. In order to do this it is important to have this discussion at partner level before funding applications are submitted and/or budgets are allocated – because the actions coming out of the discussions on legacy may attract a financial cost. We think it is worth doing the following: Discuss and share the reasons why each partner organisation became involved in the project – what change or contribution do they want the project to make to their organisation or to circus in their country. Consider the provision of an on-line home for the resources generated by the project – in order to share them easily and build upon them in future partnership plans. The easiest way we found was to employ someone who was experienced in website creation to undertake this work. They will need a clear brief with outputs and a set fee – the costs of which can be divided between the partner. Ensure that you have a final partners wrap up meeting to discuss the way forward for your work and any potential initiatives that you can seize as an continuation strategy for the work. Discuss what went well/what could have gone better and create an appropriate record that can be used in future planning. 30. ASSOCIATED DOCUMENTS AND USE OF OUR MATERIAL Please feel free to modify and use our documents for your own purposes – but please credit ENCI. We created a arrange of documents to support this mobility and it is likely that you will want to create your own – to meet your own needs. However, we suggest that you look at the three specific documents referred to within this report:

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Example Travel Instructions

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Example Prospectus

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Example Behavioural Guidelines When Travelling Abroad & Representing Your Country

You will find these documents at the end of this report. 31. VOCABULARY KEY Circus: In this document the term means ‘contemporary circus’ – by which we mean the use of human physical skills to create pieces of artistic performance work Leonardo: The Leonardo programme is part of the European Union’s Lifelong Learning Programme from 2007–2013. It supported UK vocational education and training (VET) organisations, staff and learners to work together with European partners to improve training, skills and employability. Mobility: Mobility is the ability to freely and easily. In this context it is the travelling of EU vocational education/training staff and learners from one EU country to another – for the purposes of knowledge transfer and increased employability. Host: The Leonardo partnership member country that is hosting the workshops and individual cultural exchange – and has the responsibility of devising, marketing, delivering and administrating that whole exchange. Hosting: The act of being host to the range of people undertaking mobilities on the project. Participant: For the purposes of this project we mean anyone participating in the workshops – they will be people who recognise themselves as; circus artists, circus skills teachers and circus students – and some will also recognise themselves as arts administrators – the infant nature of this sector is such that there is not an established ‘teaching body’ so circus artists also teach – and are keen to improve and expand their skills, so remain in ‘learning’ throughout their careers. Partner organisation: Named organisation that is one of the organisations working in partnership to deliver hostings and/or facilitate the mobility of participants from the EU to attend hostings. Rushes: first raw footage of unedited content Sender-partner: The project partner organisation that is sending participants from their country to your workshop hosting. Volunteer-participant: Someone who would not have usually qualified for a funded place – and is not claimed for from the funder – but that you allow onto the programme in exchange for their support work Workshop-hosting: The entire collection of activities including workshops/accommodation/social and cultural trips.

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Example - Behavioural Guidelines when Travelling Abroad & Representing your Country

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS We have taken UK and EU taxpayer’s money in order to further our own development through this project. As such we are ambassadors for the UK as well as for [insert organisation’s name]. Please remember that at all times and: • Keep your personal papers (tickets, passport, money, valuables etc) in a safe place so that you do not inconvenience the hosts by them having to deal with your problems instead of looking after the group mobility • Familiarise yourself with the customs of the country you are visiting (acceptable behaviour/dress codes etc) and make sure that you do not step outside those • Familiarise yourself with the laws of the country that you are visiting and do not contravene those laws • Behave with kindness and respect when dealing with our partners and the residents of our host city at all times • Avoid expressing strong opinions that may offend around contentious subjects • Avoid voicing judgemental or disrespectful thoughts about people’s choice of belief system, religion, sexuality and dietary or other moral choices • Think of others and do as you would be done by You are being sent on this mobility because [insert organisation’s name] wants to invest in you as an individual – you are important to us so please keep yourself safe by: • Ensuring that you have any necessary medication with you • Ensuring that you make the hosts aware of any medical conditions that you have that they may need to deal with in an emergency (pregnancy/epilepsy/diabetes/extreme fears etc) • Ensuring that you have full travel insurance before you leave • Familiarising yourself with health risks associated with the country that you are visiting and ensure that you have appropriate inoculations etc • Familiarise yourself with food hygiene recommendations in the host country (for example: drinking water) • Ensuring that you do not put yourself in the way of danger EXPENSES RULES • We will purchase travel tickets unless otherwise agreed (the meeting point will be the train station or airport that we depart the UK from). • We will pay for your accommodation – which we will arrange – if you elect to stay at alternative accommodation for any reason then you will need to cover that cost yourself • We will give you £100 spending money towards subsistence and other costs • If you do not take out medical and other travel insurance and incur costs then you will need to cover any costs associated with your illness or accident. ENCI

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Example - Travel Instructions

For participants staying at HAT: We have offered this option as we know that London is an expensive place to stay: But please be aware the accommodation being offered will be basic; we will have seven people sharing our yoga room. You will be sleeping on crash mats covered with sheets; we will provide duvets, sheets, towels and pillows. Please bring a sleeping bag with you. You will have access to kitchen, toilets, sauna and shower. Directions:

Hangar Arts Trust Unit 7a, Mellish Hous Harrington Way, SE18 5NR England, UK Tel: 02083178401 Or 02030046173

From Stansted Airport: 1 hour 45 minutes Tickets you will need: Stansted express train ticket from Stansted to Stratford is cheaper if you book online here- https:// www.stanstedexpress.com/ and Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • From Stansted Airport take the train to Tottenham Hale rail station ( 33 minutes) • Take train Tottenham Hale Station take train to Stratford rail Station (14 minutes) • Take Jubilee line tube to North Greenwich station (8 minutes) • Take bus 161 or 472 from bus stop A to Warspite Road (20 minutes) • Walk from Warspite road bust stop to Hangar Arts Trust (5 minutes) From Gatwick Airport: 1 hour 25 minutes Tickets you will need: Train ticket from Gatwick to London Bridge around £15 and Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • From Gatwick Airport take the train to London bridge ( 30 minutes) • From London Bridge Take Jubilee line tube to North Greenwich station (30 minutes) • Take bus 161 or 472 from bus stop A to Warspite Road (20 minutes) • Walk from Warspite road bust stop to Hangar Arts Trust ( 5 minutes) From Heathrow Airport: 1 hour 25 minutes Tickets you will need: Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • Take Piccadilly line tube to Green Park (45 minutes) • Take Jubilee line tube to North Greenwich station (20 minutes) • Take bus 161 or 472 from bus stop A to Warspite Road (20 minutes)

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• Walk from Warspite road bust stop to Hangar Arts Trust ( 5 minutes) From Kings Cross St Pancras: 1 hour Tickets you will need: Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week: • Take northern line tube to London bridge(20 minutes) • Take Jubilee line tube to North Greenwich station (20 minutes) • Take bus 161 or 472 from bus stop A to Warspite Road (20 minutes) • Walk from Warspite road bust stop to Hangar Arts Trust ( 5 minutes) For participants staying at Hotel: Hotel address: Travelodge London Woolwich Hotel, 125–157 Powis Street, Woolwich, London, SE18 6LQ, UK Tel: 0871 984 6510 Rooms are booked under the name [insert]. Check in 3pm; check out by midday. Hotel payment should be made to [insert] in cash or by card. Nearest stations to Hotel: Woolwich Arsenal on DLR/National rail and Woolwich Dockyard. HOTEL From Stansted Airport: 1 hour 20 minutes Tickets you will need: Stansted express train ticket from Stansted to Stratford is cheaper if you book online here- https:// www.stanstedexpress.com/ and Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • From Stansted Airport take the train to Tottenham Hale rail station ( 33 minutes) • Take train Tottenham Hale Station take train to Stratford rail Station (14 minutes) • Take Jubilee line tube to Canning town (6 minutes) • Take DLR to Woolwich Arsenal (14 minutes) • Walk to Hotel (10 Minutes) From Gatwick Airport: 1 hour 10 minutes Tickets you will need: Train ticket from Gatwick to London Bridge around £15 and Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • From Gatwick Airport take the train to London bridge ( 30 minutes) • From London Bridge take the train to Woolwich Dockyard ( 30 minutes) • Walk from Woolwich Dockyard to Hotel (10 Minutes) From Heathrow Airport: 1 hour 35 minutes

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Tickets you will need: Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • Take Piccadilly line tube to Green Park (45 minutes) • Take Jubilee line tube to North Greenwich station (20 minutes) • Take bus 161 or 472 from bus stop A to Woolwich Arsenal (30 minutes) • Walk from Woolwich Arsenal to Hotel (10 minutes) From Kings Cross St Pancras: 1 hour Tickets you will need: Oyster card that can be brought from any ticket office and please put £25 credit on this for travel throughout week • Take northern line tube to Bank(20 minutes) • Take DLR to Woolwich Arsenal (30 minutes) • Walk from Woolwich Arsenal to Hotel (10 minutes) If you have any problems or questions please get in touch!!

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Example Prospectus

Introduction to Hangar Arts Trust Hangar Arts Trust (HAT) is a London-based circus charity. We exist to provide affordable circus practice and performance space to artists and to encourage the general public to improve their wellbeing through engagement with circus skills training. HAT encourages community engagement via community circus days, a social circus youth programme and courses for the disabled and those with learning difficulties. We run the Youth Circus for children, the CircusAbility project for the disabled and we provide discounted/free workshops for the community and local schools. We support new circus and circus-related work and we encourage individuals and independent circus production companies to achieve creative excellence and financial sustainability. We do this by providing affordable riggable space and an educational, creative and commercial network for them to work within. We have two in-house companies who specialise in Aerial work and the facilities of our space reflect that skill-base â&#x20AC;&#x201C; AirCraft Circus and Gorilla Circus. Dates of mobility We have planed our mobility to coincide with a large-scale circus show at The Roundhouse, thus allowing you to enjoy some circus whilst you are in London. The core dates for the mobility are Thursday 16th â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Monday 20th April 2015. We will be starting and finishing promptly each day so we advise participants to travel on Wednesday 15th and Tuesday 21st April in order to participate fully. We will not be able to accept participants who are unable to attend the entire programme. Location 70% of waking hours at: Hangar Arts Trust, Unit 7a Mellish House, Harrington Way, London SE18 5NR. 10% of waking hours at: The Roundhouse and in Camden Market.

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20% of the remainder time will be optional activities and free time both on and off the premises at HAT Focus of mobility The focus of the learning on this mobility is three-fold; practical, developmental and theoretical/organisational. The mobility will involve participation in an aerial convention. This will involve practical classes and skill swap in: - Rope - Silks - Hoop - Static Trapeze - Flying Trapeze (Petit and Grand Volant) It will also include a knowledge/experience transfer sessions in the practical skills needed to put on a convention and a follow up session to discuss how participants might create a convention in their hometowns.

Aim of mobility At a practical level we hope that people will try new areal disciplines and perfect their existing chosen discipline. The aim is for people to have developed their potential in a range of different ways so that by the end of the convention they will have developed new skills, developed existing skills, increased networks, and improved chances of employment and chances of creating their own international conventions. The experience This will be a high-energy and busy experience; it will be engaging and interesting but it will also be both physically and mentally demanding. Although there will be some theory, it will be a highly interactive week where you will need to bring all your energy, openness and positivity. The group will be large so we will work in both the large group and small break out groups. It is 5 day ‘long weekend’ course delivered as an ‘aerial convention with one day either side for theory, feedback, specialist skills development and planning and evaluation work. ENCI

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Activities

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An explanation of how we run our circus practice and performance space at HAT

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Theoretical classes and discussions about creating and running skills-based conventions

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Action-learning involving the creation of skills-based conventions

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Practical skills-based sessions in a range of aerial disciplines

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Introduction to aerial yoga

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Physical physiotherapy session about avoiding risks when taking up new aerial skills

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Opportunity for personal practice and aerial knowledge and skills sharing

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Facilitated networking with other aerial artists

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Tour of The Roundhouse – one of London’s premier circus performance venues

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Evening circus show at The Roundhouse

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Opportunity for trained climbers to visit our neighbouring climbing wall during free time

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A range of evening social and cultural opportunities

Who this will suit •

Those who want to meet and network with like-minded aerialists

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Experienced aerialists (intermediate level and above in their own discipline)

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Aerialists who are keen to try new aerial disciplines

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Those who teach or want to teach aerial skills

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Those who have an interest in running their own skills-based circus convention

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Those who have an interest in running their own space for circus creation, practice, and classes

Costs We realise that London can be expensive – because of this we have worked hard to create cost-neutral options where possible. However, there will be some costs associated with the trip and these will include: • Return travel to London • Travel from your UK port of entry to HAT • A weekly Travel Card for all public transport in London zones 1–3 (£39.80) • £15 per person towards food and refreshments whilst at Hangar Arts Trust • 25 ticket fee for the show at The Roundhouse • Spending money for drinks and evening meal – we recommend you set aside a minimum of £15 an evening to fully enjoy the London experience x 5 days (say £75) • General spending money Accommodation We have two options for free accommodation – the Directors of HAT and AirCraft Circus all have homes near to HAT and all have spare rooms – all with double beds and wifi – where you would be most welcome. This will be allocated on a first come first serve basis and subject to other commitments that may arise. We will also be creating a mixed room hostel at HAT – which can sleep 6 people – HAT has a kitchen, loos, shower, sauna, wifi and we will be providing all stay-over participants with clean towels and bedding. We have a range of local hostel/hotel options – we will make recommendations, depending on budget/requirements at the time of your booking with us. Shared eating HAT will provide open access tea, coffee, fruit and biscuits across the week

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HAT will provide a continental self-making breakfast goods from Thursday the 16th to Tuesday the 21st HAT will provide an Ethiopian buffet on the evening of Friday the 17th HAT will provide drinks and snacks on the evening of Sunday the 19th HAT will provide English ‘afternoon tea’ on Monday the 20th There is an indoor feasting area at HAT and an outside picnic area Places available We have a maximum of 20 participant places for this mobility. Booking for this mobility opens 1st October 2014 and closes March 23rd 2015. Daily structure 9.00 – 9.30am breakfast together at HAT 9.30am and throughout the day circus classes and sessions at HAT (please check timetable for more details) Evenings are free time but we have organised a set of optional activities for you that include a range of circus shows, classes and activities. AirTime Hangar Arts Trust opens its space to individual artists for their own individual practice and creation needs. During your visit to London you will have free access to the AirTime slots. AirTime is conducted on The Mezz at HAT and offers rigged, rope, silks, trapeze and hoop; Chinese pole, acro-mats and equilibristic equipment. There will be a trained first aider on site at all times.

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Timetable

! We are looking forward to having you with us and very excited about the prospect of working with you.

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