Introduction

Elac Education Trust is a registered organisation, set up in 2015, which carries out not-for-profit educational projects overseas.

Purpose

The purpose of Elac Education Trust is to provide English language training to non-native learners of English. The Trustees believe that communication skills, and specifically an ability to communicate well in the global language of English, can be the key to unlocking opportunities for young people. The Trustees are also aware that the ability to access good English language learning opportunities outside the UK can be limited in certain countries. As experienced Directors of a UK language school, with an extensive network of partners overseas, we are well placed to provide such learning opportunities.

Activities to date

Short intensive language courses

These are similar to those in which we specialise in the UK, delivered overseas for students who lack the financial resources to join our UK programmes. The Trust’s work will focus on younger learners (11 – 17), which is the age range in which we have the greatest experience, and beneficiaries will be chosen on a needs basis regardless of ethnicity, gender, politics, or sexuality.  So far, we have run three successful courses in Israel and one in Slovakia.  (See PROJECTS)

Other activities

The Trust will consider a number of other activities in future, such as sponsoring teachers to work with other charitable organisations or directly with schools overseas, and also supporting individuals to attend language courses in the UK.

Through the work of the Trust we hope to benefit as many young learners as possible, in a range of settings and formats, helping them develop their communication skills, increasing their motivation to continue to learn, and broadening their horizons as they face an increasingly globalised culture.

Currently we are supporting a primary school in Tukongote, Zambia, via a local charity.

Volunteers

Working for the Elac Education Trust is a volunteer position, and does not attract a salary. However, there are a number of benefits in addition to the personal value you may place on volunteering for one of our projects:

• Free return flights from London Heathrow to the course destination
• Free board and accommodation 
• Free Travel Insurance
• A programme of visits and activities during the programme
• An expenses allowance

What type of people we are looking for?

We are looking for motivated, and ideally experienced, teachers who enjoy working with young people. You need to be flexible and prepared to work hard, as it can be challenging at times; however, if you have a passion for education and travelling, and are keen to discover more about different cultures, it will be an extremely rewarding experience. As with all positions working with young people, staff will need to have an enhanced DBS or Disclosure Scotland Check. 

“The course was an incredible experience and I would like to volunteer with the Trust again. The trips at the end were fun and interesting. We bonded with each other as a team really well, I learnt a lot from the other teachers and Drew, Gareth and James were supportive leaders. Most importantly, the majority of the kids got something positive out of the course.” Dan - Teacher, Saknin 2016

Trustees

John Dunster (Principal), Andrew McPhee (Director), Tim Cooke (Director), Elaine Wickens (Welfare and Administration Director), Kera Gustafson (Academic Manager).

• 2015 Iksal, Israel
• 2016 Saknin, Israel
• 2017 Nazareth, Israel
• 2018 Dobrà Niva, Slovakia

Over the last 4 summers, we have run 4 successful Trust courses in Iksal (2015), Saknin (2016), Nazareth (2017), and Dobrà Niva (2018). Hundreds of teenagers have participated in these courses, attending communicative English lessons, activity sessions, drama and team building workshops. At the end of each course, students’ parents and members of the local community were invited to the schools to watch students’ drama performances and presentations. Each course was extremely successful, with students developing their language skills, and strong bonds built between the Trust staff and the local community.

Trust staff also spent quality time with their host families learning about the local cultures, tasting new foods, and even attending weddings! They also spent time visiting beautiful cities, attractions and seeing breathtaking scenery.

If you would like to read a little more about our most recent Trust course in Slovakia please read this presentation here.