1. Leicester to Dusseldorf 16 th to 30 th March 2013 Kim Lound Emma Sawyer Jonny Campbell

2. Flying Fish A project to help young people leaving care to reach their full potential Helping care leavers into education, training or employment 80% go into education, employment or training

3. Way Ahead Project Project ran by Leicester City Council Creation of new Education, Training and employment opportunities for Looked After Children and care leavers Working in Partnership with Voluntary sector ( Leicestershire cares) and Private sector ( Marriott hotel group)

4. On placement at the Marriott, Leicester

5. Off we go! The Journey begins. Taxi to airport. Plane to Frankfurt. Train to Dusseldorf. Taxi to apartment. We have arrived.

6. RENAISSANCE DÜSSELDORF HOTEL Kim worked in housekeeping Emma and Jonny in Restaurant

8. Warm Welcome. On day one we were treated to a trip around Dusseldorf to get our baring's followed by a traditional German meal and ‘one’ beer!!

9. Day one First day on placement.

10. Getting there To get there we got up at 5am, got on a tram and a bus to start work at 7.00am!

11. The real work starts. 7.am starts for Jonny and Emma but 8 30 am for Kim. We all get off to a good start and are keen to participate. Its Thursday before we know it and then……………..

12. Arme Kim! I didn’t like the food, but everyone was very friendly.

13. Lindt factory Koln While Kim is recovering in hospital Emma and Jonny get to travel to Koln independently! A visit to the chocolate factory. Arranged by the staff at the Renaissance. This was a highlight

14. Koln Lunch at the Hotel. Very Nice. Visit to the Cathedral as well. Jonny and Emma get out and about on their own !

15. Fantasialand Kim still recovering in the Florence Nightingale hospital Emma and Jonny off to Fantasialand!

16. Back to work. Week 2 Sunday 24th march Yes we are working on a Sunday!!! Antony goes back to England and Monica arrives.

17. A trip to SOS Kinderdorff

24. Mentors and buddies We had great mentors and buddies who really looked after us!

25. Celebration dinner. An evening meal at the hotel in the presence of the hotels General manager.

26. Placement ends. Friday the 29 th is bank Holiday. Last day in placement was Thursday 28 th so we had a couple of days before flying home.

27. We what we gained It has built our confidence Gave us an experience of working/living in another country Showed us how kind and supportive people can be Showed us how hard work can be Something unique to put on our CV’s

28. What we have gained Some German friends Some unforgettable memories. Possibly another trip! ( football ) Some basic German Language skills.

29. What we have learned It reinforced our wish to work in this field Learned how to balance two plates on an arm Different way of making beds Serving with a smile We could get around on our own independently

30. What else we have learned We got a buzz out of working We could go shopping in Germany We liked the food especially the sausages and goulash We could cope with the money We could cope with unexpected situations

31. What about 2014? More German, starting sooner Full cross over day for workers Fly direct to Dusseldorf and perhaps meet up beforehand We would do it again and encourage others to have a go. Don’t ever forget the Medical insurance!

32. From Elke We are pleased that we provided the young people 14 interesting days with positive working experience in a German Marriott Hotel and funny trips in the surroundings. We hope we could contribute to build self-confidence, because they were able to integrate successfully themselves in our team in a very short time. We are sure these working experiences will support them to find suitable jobs and work successfully on a career within the hospitality industry in the future. All the best for Emma, Kim and John.