The European Independent Living Day – 5th May is just a month away and we can’t wait to celebrate it with you, being proud, strong and visible once again!
As always, we have prepared several activities and ways to engage, and of course we are looking forward to hearing and sharing your own initiatives!
Photo competition : Experiences of Independent Living
This year we are having a photo competition and are inviting you all to join, sharing your everyday experience of Independent Living! And what’s best? We have some really cool prizes for the winners!
- First prize is a trip to the Freedom Drive in Brussels on 23-25 September 2024 (with travel and accommodation covered, including for one Personal Assistant, if needed)*
- Those who place in the second and third spot can come to the Freedom Drive without paying the participation fee
- All the other eligible entries will be included in a publication we are preparing for the 35 years of ENIL
Here is everything you need to know in order to participate:
- Every participant can send up to 3 photos in a digital format (.jpg, .png or .pdf). Please note that only the best one will be considered, so it is not possible one person to win more than one prize
- ENIL’s jury will evaluate the photos based on their a)quality, b)relevance to the theme (experience of Independent Living), and c)creativity/message
- For every photo, we are asking you to have at least one person in it (with their permission to be included), as well as a title and a written description of what the photo shows. · Entries must be sent to michael.goossens@enil.eu, with “Photo competition” in the subject, and include the name, age and country of the applicant
- The winners will be announced by the end of June 2024
- Deadline is on 31 May 2024
*Although the competition welcomes contestants from outside Europe, we will only be able to cover the cost of those coming to the Freedom Drive from Europe (or the equivalent).
“This year I vote for…”
This year, the European Elections are taking place again, from 6 – 9 June. For this reason, we invite you to share with us (at michael.goossens@enil.eu) or on social media (using our hashtag: #ILDay2024 and/or tagging us) your message by completing the phrase: “This year I vote for…”. We encourage you to send videos, photos or drawings, but any format is welcome! We will collect everything you send us and share it with everyone!
Youth Café (online)
On Saturday 11 May, at 12:00 – 13:30 CET, the ENIL Youth Network will host its second ENIL Youth Café meeting, an online accessible gathering (live captioning and international sign language interpretation will be provided) and a safe space for young people (up to 35) to meet and discuss together topics that are important to them. This particular café will be dedicated to (de)institutionalisation and people who are not allowed to live independently in the community with everyone else.
You can register here! For any questions, please contact kamil.goungor@enil.eu
Share your activities with us
As always, we are looking forward to seeing what your activities on the day will be! From conferences and art exhibitions to dinner parties and comics, in person and online, we have seen a lot of ideas and creativity around Europe each year! Again, feel free to share directly with us (at michael.goossens@enil.eu) or on social media (using our hashtag: #ILDay2024 and/or tagging us)!
If you need a bit more inspiration, you can watch the info session we held last year here!
For those based in Brussels
For those of you that are based in Brussels, we would like to invite you to the launch of the ENIL Memorandum on the EU elections in front of the European Parliament. We are still confirming the final details so stay tuned for more details!
