Ciao, my name is Paris. I volunteered through EIL on the Leonardo da Vinci programme and I had the time of my life! I spent a month in a city called Altamura in Southern Italy with a not-for-profit organisation called Link. Link engages young people in non-formal educational activities and promotes creativity through arts and media education. My project was mainly media related, but I did a little bit of everything.

I was also a guest on the local radio every week, which was always hilarious! All the people I met there were genuine people who treated me as if I was family and I can’t wait to go back on another project.

EIL is urgently seeking young people aged 18 - 30 for a 2 week work placement in Hungary this June at Debrecen University Botanic Gardens and surrounding National Park. The work includes habitat conservation, propagating and re-establishing rare plant species, and monitoring bird boxes. Cultural visits are also included. This trip is just one of the Leonardo da Vinci placements that EIL has to offer young people looking to combine foreign travel with work experience. Flights, accommodation, food, pocket money and an excellent support structure are all paid for. There is no need to speak the language as all placements have English speaking staff and language training is included. For more details please contact Lauran Jones on 01684 562577 or email her at l.jones@eiluk.org.

EIL have been hosting a group of American students visiting the UK for the past month to learn about film and to make a short film about young people in Britain and about their lives and culture.

The video is called 'Some Days...Some Lives...Somewhere in England' and follows the group from Malvern, to Bradford, Liverpool and Derby.