Since October 2021, the Beurer Foundation has been offering the project "GoldenHearts Ulm: German courses for mothers incl. childcare" at two primary schools in Ulm.
The concept of the education project is to teach the mothers of primary school pupils in German directly at their children's primary schools in order to make an important step towards the integration of the families. The acquisition of language skills is a big part for a good future in Germany. In most cases, the mothers are the contact persons for the teachers and take care of the education of their children. Lack of language skills often makes communication between school and parents very difficult and leads to misunderstandings. That is why the Beurer Foundation wants to give mothers the opportunity to learn German with the GoldenHearts language courses tailored to their needs.
The GoldenHearts German courses take place 2 afternoons per week. While the mothers learn German, their smaller children are cared for in play groups.
In October 2021, the Beurer Foundation started at the Albrecht-Berblinger-Grundschule with 3 German courses for 20 mothers and a childcare group with 13 children. After a short time it became clear that the offer is very much in demand and needs to be expanded quickly. For this reason, the range of courses at the Albrecht-Berblinger-Grundschule has been increased and a second elementary school, the Martin-Schaffner-Grundschule, has been added to the program.
At the end of the school year 22/23 we can draw a good balance: a total of 117 mothers and 88 children have been reached with the educational program "GoldenHearts Ulm" since October 2021. All participants were able to improve their German skills significantly, 12 participants even completed the courses with a TELC diploma (A1 or A2 level).
The Peace-Café in the Café "Die Apotheke" in Ulm (Olgastraße 143) is a meeting place where everyone is welcome. The offer takes place every monday from 9am to 11am and offers a comfortable setting to relax or to go in an exchange. In addition to pretzel and coffee, which are offered on a donation basis, there are also contact persons of Caritas Ulm-Alb-Donau available for questions of any kind. The café enables an informal and low-threshold contact and supports e.g. for referrals to counselling centres. In addition, so-called theme montages are offered, to which experts from different areas of focus are invited and report on their work and content. For example: The topic "How do I find work?" is supported by Caritas' migration advice, the Jobcenter Ulm and IN VIA (recognition, qualifications). To facilitate communication, the International Interpreting Service Ulm is also available. The Peace-Café is currently in the summer break and will start again on September 11.
Since January 2023, the Beurer Foundation has supported an important educational project in the Republic of Moldova. This project includes homework assistance and learning support for around 35 children and young people.
By financing several training places for socially disadvantaged young people, the Beurer Foundation supports the CONCORDIA vocational school in Ploiesti Romania, thus offering young adults a chance for independence and economic independence.
In October 2021, the Beurer Foundation launched a new project in Ulm: "German courses for mothers with a migrant background including childcare"
In October 2021, the offer at the Albrecht-Berblinger-Grundschule in Ulm-Weststadt included two German courses at different learning levels. Due to the great demand, the Beurer Foundation opened a third German course in January 2022. After the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the demand changed again in spring 2022, so that a fourth German course for Ukrainian women was offered in May 2022. In total, around 40 mothers were trained and 15 children were cared for over the entire duration.
All courses took place twice a week for 1.5 hours and were attended by the mothers very regularly and with great joy in learning. The attendance rate over the entire course period was in average around 81%.
All mothers improved their German skills by at least one level. Four of the mothers from the advanced course were even given the opportunity to complete an A1 TELC diploma. All 4 women passed the exam. Congratulations!
In May 2022, the Beurer Foundation expanded its course offerings to another elementary school in Ulm, the Martin-Schaffner Elementary School. The offer included two further German courses for mothers with a migrant background, incl. childcare, which were also held twice a week for 1.5 hours in the rooms of the elementary school until the end of the school year 2021/22.
Around 23 mothers studied here, and an average of 13 children were cared for.
The language courses at both elementary schools are very well attended by the mothers. By learning the German language, they can better support their children and find their way around in everyday life. That is why the Beurer Foundation will continue to offer the courses at both schools in the new school year 2022/23.
Millions of people have been on the run since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The Beurer Foundation has made a strong effort to help the refugees. For this purpose, Beurer has donated heating blankets, heating pads, blood glucose meters, fever thermometers, baby food warmer and hair dryer to the accommodation for refugees on the "Eselsberg" in Ulm. In addition, at the request of the DRK Ulm, many of the Beurer employees have actively provided donations, including shoes, pregnancy clothing and household goods.
Since October 2021, the Beurer Foundation has been offering low-threshold German courses for mothers with a migrant background including childcare in Ulm. Now the first Ukrainian mothers were able to take part in these courses at the Albrecht Berblinger Elementary School. Due to the high demand, further courses will be offered at the Martin-Schaffner Elementary School from May 2022. The aim is the social integration of the mothers.
The Beurer Foundation is providing funding for direct aid in Ukraine and the border regions. The donations were made to the long-standing partner Cap Anamur, as well as to the international, independent NGO CONCORDIA Social Projects. On 3 March, Cap Anamur launched emergency aid from southern Ukraine, for which a logistics centre was set up in Novoselytsya, before hospitals in the vicinity were supplied with medicines and baby food. Since the end of March, Cap Anamur has extended its radius of action to Kiev, 500 km away.
CONCORDIA Social Projects was already present with aid projects in the Republic of Moldova many years before the Ukraine war. Therefore, they can make use of existing structures and allocate the donation of direct aid to Ukrainian refugees to the care centres of the Republic of Moldova. This includes the provision of basic goods (e.g. food, water or nappies), temporary accommodation, transport from the border crossings to Chisinau and psychological care, especially for arriving children.
On May 2, 2022, the Beurer Foundation opened two more GoldenHearts language courses for mothers with a migrant background at the Martin Schaffner Elementary School in Ulm.
The special thing about these language courses is that mothers with a migrant background can learn German twice a week for 1.5 hours each, while the children are in the GoldenHearts childcare centre.
The aim of the project is the integration of mothers by learning the German language and to enable them to support their children in everyday school life.
20 mothers and 10 children have enrolled in the new language classes at the Martin Schaffner Elementary School in Ulm. Teaching takes place in two groups at different levels of learning.
For days more and more Ukrainian refugee families have been arriving in Ulm and Neu-Ulm. The organization Malteser Ulm/Neu-Ulm wants to help the refugees who are accommodated with relatives with help bags. Basic foods, fresh fruits and vegetables as well as hygiene items are included in these help bags.
35 weekly family bags (à 20 Euro) are planned.
The Malteser Ulm/Neu-Ulm are very grateful for financial support! Donations can be transferred to the following account with the purpose "Vespertüten":
Donation account of the Malteser Hilfsdienst e.V. Neu-Ulm:
Pax-Bank IBAN: DE43 3706 0120 1201 2026 19
BIC: GENODED1PA7
The war of aggression against Ukraine deeply shocks us. This war is a violation of internationally established principles and a humanitarian catastrophe.
As a sign of solidarity with the Ukrainian people some of the children of the GoldenHearts Ulm childcare painted peace symbols in the national colours of Ukraine.
The issue of accessibility to school and safety on the way to school significantly influences the decision of families whether a child can attend school. Thanks to the support of the Beurer Foundation, parents are now also exempted from paying transport costs. This enables children from the predominantly very poor families to attend school and receive a good primary education.
Some of the pupils who use the school buses show their appreciation for the Beurer Foundation. With the school's free transport service, new registrations at the school were increased once again.
At the end of the year, Beurer traditionally organises a Christmas sale for employees. The proceeds are doubled by the management and donated to the Beurer
Foundation. The Beurer Foundation would like to thank you for this generous donation and use the funds to support charitable institutions in the region.
On October 5th, 2021 we started with a new educational project for mothers at the Albrecht-Berblinger Primary school in Ulm-Söflingen: "Low threshold German courses for mothers with a migrant background including homework and childcare."
As part of the project "Foreigners as Friends" at the Malteser Ulm/Neu-Ulm, the summer academy was successfully carried out with 10 participants. The course lasted five weeks with eight lessons a day.
