Young adults who are unemployed or have left education can often lose faith in themselves and feel isolated from society, without a way into further education or a job. Funded by the European Social Fund (ESF), the Moves project is giving disadvantaged young people a fresh start.

Filip shares his personal journey with Moves: ‘Five years ago I didn’t have any dreams or ambitions. I was in the middle of a deep depression.’ Through the Moves project, he was able to secure an apprenticeship, and decided to start full-time education. ‘Moves helped me prove to myself that I can do it. It gave me the confidence to pursue full-time studies.’

Moves supports disadvantaged young people between 18 and 30 years of age, including school leavers, the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, and people experiencing mental health difficulties.

It helps participants to find meaningful work or education by coaching the participants through three distinct phases.

During the preparatory initial phase Nadja was asked about her interests. She said that she liked flowers, so, in the second phase of the project, Moves placed her an apprenticeship at a florist. It was a perfect fit for Nadja; she said, ‘I can imagine myself doing this every day.’ Nadja felt empowered by this and saw a future for herself, ‘That’s what made me want to go to floristry school.’ The third phase of Moves, the future phase, became clear to her because she discovered what she wanted to do.

Moves participants emphasise how much the project has meant to them, especially the personalised support offered. Hassan said, ‘Moves can help you up till a point. After that, it’s all up to you.’ And he’s right, the valuable work that Moves does is supporting these young people to get moving with their lives so that they can plan and achieve their dreams.

After Moves put Hassan into an apprenticeship, he ‘felt that this is what I’ve wanted all along […] This is something I’m going to stick to.’ He was offered a permanent position soon after. Moves helped Hassan to realise what he wants in life, giving him the space to make it happen.

School Counsellor of the Stockholm Municipality, Anki Nyrström, said ‘Moves is mobilising youth to gain experience for the next phase in their lives. That is huge.’ The Moves project’s three-phase model of discovering the young persons’ passions and dreams, entering them into a relevant apprenticeship away from home – in another EU country or in another region of Sweden, and letting them choose their future pursuit in life to follow that dream has been successful in Sweden and several other European countries.

The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions, which manages the project, works in close collaboration with the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society and thus seeks synergies with other EU mobility programmes, such as Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps.

The best indication of the success of Moves is to see that these young people no longer need the project. Moves helps them to build personal confidence and skills in a profession they enjoy – and allows them to use these skills to move on to a meaningful life.