Bernadette Larkin from the Youth and Adult Education Unit offers her advice for writing your Erasmus+ Youth Final Report.
1. Don’t wait until it’s over to start
When should you start putting together your Final Report? When you receive your approval letter! This is when the project starts in earnest. In the Final Report you’ll be asked to describe your planning, co-operation and project management, so keep notes as you go. It will make things much easier when the time comes to submit it. Make friends with the evaluation process from the start, so that you can measure impact at participant, organisation and wider community level.
2. The Final Report can write itself
Putting a process of reflection and evaluation in place from the start should feed into the Final Report. YouthPass can be a big help here – make it work for you and your report will reflect the voice of the participants. Where this is not appropriate, recording the highs and lows each day and editing as you go can make your life easier and save time at the end.
Receiving their Youthpass at #limyouth with @Limerick_Leader @Leargas @EUErasmusPlus pic.twitter.com/eo390yQhf8
— LimerickYouthService (@limerickyouth) April 27, 2016
3. It’s not just about the funding
Try to see the Final Report as a resource for future projects and applications. It can be a process of reflection and learning that will enrich and make your organisation—and any future applications—stronger. Treat it as a chance to learn, rather than a formality when the fun is over to draw down the rest of the funding. We are all on the same team working towards good practice in youth work, and sharing your learning helps us develop and grow too.
4. Tell us a story
We’re human too! Brighten our day as we sit at our desks in Parnell Street, and make us feel that what we’re doing is worthwhile. Paint a picture of your project. Make us green with envy about the great things that happened at home or away! This will take more than one or two lines, but you don’t need to write a novel either. Just imagine you’re telling a friend about your great project, and keep it readable and interesting.
5. Let your light shine
Don’t be shy: celebrate the great work you’re doing! Dissemination is a big part of the process so blog, photograph, film and record your project and share it far and wide. Help us spread the word about Erasmus+. Keep us in the loop and let us know in the Final Report about all you’ve done.
Thanks to everyone that came earlier. Get a copy of the Mag we released https://t.co/jicOMEBbOT. #ka2youthmusic pic.twitter.com/a09Wk4nrEt
— IYMA (@officialiymas) May 18, 2016
6. Warts and all
Think about what went wrong and how you put it right, and don’t be afraid to tell us about it. Things go wrong–that’s life. There’s a lot to be learned from small disasters, so if you tell us about it we can learn too and help other projects in the future. Remember if you have problems to contact us. We’re here to help.
7. The finances
The budget is often what delays projects submitting their Final Report, especially this question:
A word of advice: try to have ONE place where you keep everything, particularly when you’re travelling. You will be busy keeping track of all your participants, so make life easier for yourself. This is where mistake can happen–totals don’t tally or expenses are put under the wrong category. The Operations and Finance team are at the other end of the phone and would much rather you give them a call before you submit rather after. Asking will save you having to do things again, and save us all time in the long run. Don’t hesitate to make the call--it makes all our lives easier!
