About the BUKO Association, the Tuchola Forest and all those people with whom "you want to want"

During two days, from 19 to 20 October, Participants of the EU project "Social assistance - often very effective" were hosted in the Kujawy i Pomerania Province. The trip to Piła crowned several months of training efforts invested in this group. Having completed a business training course with elements of social economy they could see in practice how associations running themed villages operated.

Participants could observe the work of a prosperous Association of Residents and Lovers of Piła on the Brda River "BUKO" It is a non-governmental organisation whose main statutory objective is protection and promotion of natural, landscape, cultural and historical resources in Piła, a city located in the Kujawy and Pomarania Province, in the Tuchola Municipality, in the Gostycyn Commune. The organisation unites people who "want to want" and who wish to take actions aimed at studying and popularising the history of Piła and the Tuchola Forest. The acronym "BUKO" was taken from the name of the first underground lignite mine which operated in Piła in the years 1886-1900.

Objectives of BUKO are:

- to study the history of Piła and the surrounding areas,

- to promote tourist attractions in the town and in the Tuchola Forest.

- to protect nature threatened by harmful human activity,

- to improve the quality of life for the residents of Piła on the Brda River.

During the visit, discussions were held with the leaders of themed villages. Questions, doubts and expressions of admiration were addressed to those who were successful. During the trip participants took part in a training: a themed village as a form of local development with the use of the EU funds and social economy tools. Afterwards, workshops were held in creating decorations and jewellery from wool and felt as well as a practical training on how to create cake decoration from sugar pulp according to the English method.

In the evening, all the participants took part in the Kujawy and Silesia feast called "Sztygar' Wedding", which was one of the services offered by the themed village Górnicza Wioska. During the feast, the participants played the roles of wedding guests and took part in the reconstruction of a celebration from the 1930s. There were traditional dishes, habits, songs and dances. The guests danced to the sounds of folk music.

Another part of the training trip was the Honey Village in Wielki Mędromierz village. The town is located in the Tuchola Municipality, in the Gostycyn Commune. The village is located within the distance of 55 km from Bydgoszcz. Wielki Mędromierz is one of the largest villages in the Gostycyn Commune, which is inhabited by 384 people. The village is located in a picturesque surrounding, on the one hand Mędromierz Lake and on the other the edge of the Tuchola Forest Complex. The village is famous for its honey and beekeeping. It is there where the participants learnt how to make candles of beeswax and they could buy honey, which has nutritional value, as it contains easily digestible carbohydrates, gives a lot of energy and is good for health.

The trip was full of wise thoughts and good emotions; the autumn weather and landscape were beautiful and they indeed are valuable assets of this area. Participants came back to Kowala with knowledge and energy to make their own decisions on the job market.

The system project entitled "Social assistance - often very effective" is implemented within the framework of the Human Capital Operational Programme, Priority VII "Promoting social integration" Measure 7.1 "Development and popularisation of active integration", Sub-measure 7.1.1 "Development and popularisation of active integration by the Social Welfare Centres" - "Development of the forms of active integration through social contracts for activation of the unemployed, job seekers or unemployed workers, people of working age and welfare beneficiaries within the meaning of the regulations on social assistance."