Meeting with Minister

A very constructive meeting with Mr Dragan Atanasov, Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport of the Republic of Serbia, together with Mr Zeljko Tanaskovic, President of the Sebian School Sports Federation and Mr Slobodan Cicanovic, Adviser.

Back to Belgrade

The APV culminated with a superb evening out. Well done Dijana for organising everything so well. Now we all go our separate ways, but look forward to meeting again in the near future.

The return journey allows time off to explore Belgrade and admire the view over the Danube from Kalemegdan fortress.

The team

Vrnjacka Banja

The picture we all share. And the reality is a beautiful, quiet, clean and safe town with fresh mountain air.

But it's also about....

... Good food and good company

The team at work

This is what an APV is all about...

New friends and great plans

Representatives of all the project partners are together in the beautiful town of Vrnjacka Banja for the Advance Planning Visit. We have found out about each other's organisations and shared ideas about the programme for the youth exchange. It is going to be a fun and productive week for the young people involved.

Welcome to this BLOG

What we would like you to do

Here at Momentum we would like the your international experience to be fun and interactive. Therefore we would like participants to contribute to VVV blog.

This blog will be running through the whole week and we hope that participants will continue to add and create posts throughout the week.

Below are some step by step instructions on how to create a post on Blogger.
 

The address for the blog in http://vvv-mom.blogspot.co.uk.

Instructions

1. Setup an account at www.blogger.com
2. Download the blogger app to your smart phone if you have one, otherwise contribute via your laptop 
3. Send your registered email to paul@momentumworld.org and he will make you an author - you will get an email from Paul
4. Open this email. It will have a box which states accept invitation. Once you have accepted this response using your email address you will be able to add your own posts to the VVV blog.

There will be lots of help available if anyone is having difficultly creating a post. Feel free to email paul@momentumworld.org  at any time if you need help.

Information About - Vrnjačka Banja (Serbia)

Vrnjačka Banja

Vrnjačka Banja (Serbin cyrillic: Врњачка Бања) is a town, municipality, and a resort, mineral spa located in Raška District of Serbia. It has the world's only hot spring measuring exactly that of the human body (36.5 degrees Celsius).

The mascot of Vrnjacka Banja, the sparrow wearing the Šajkača and Opanci, parts of the traditional national dress of Serbia.

Population

In 2002, the population of the town was 9,877, while population of the entire municipality was 26,492.

Tourism

Vrnjačka Banja is the most celebrated and most popular spa town of Serbia and at same time, a very attractive recreative centre. Situated in a great park full of trees with particularly charming houses, the town has a promsing future. Surrounding Vrnjačka Banja are UNESCO protected medieval buildings, which serve as a reminder to early European civilisation. Other nearby landmarks include the first court of the Serbian Archbishop, the Žiča Monastery and the beautifully frescoed Sopoćani Monastery which both date back to the thirteenth century and the twelfth century Studenica Monastery all of which are nestled in the colourful Ibar River Valley.

It owes its reputation to its therapeutic effects known already to the Roman troops in the second century AD. It was upgraded by the Czech Baron Herder in 1835 after Prince Milos Obrenovic wanted it to be like Karlovy Vary, it has since received people from all of southern Europe, who came to rest or for treatment. Summers are pleasant, and the winter is mild. With organized walks along the tree bordered paths, Vrnjačka Banja is an ideal place to come to for one’s own salvation. Natural springs can be found on five mineral water sources well positioned in the park. The warm water (36 degrees Celsius) is ideal for massage, and cool (17 degrees Celsius) sufficiently reviving.

There are seven mineral springs in Vrnjačka Banja, from which first four are used for medical treatment:

• Topla voda (36.5°C)
• Snežnik (17°C)
• Slatina (24°C)
• Jezero (27°C)
• Beli izvor
• Borjak
• Vrnjačko vrelo

The hotels are numerous and have swimming pools and halls for games. In winter, it is convenient for skiing on the Goc, just a few kilometers away. In the summer, Vrnjačka Banja is transformed into one of greatest cultural centers in Serbia: literary soirées in a very nice library of the modern style, classical concerts under the column capitals and the festival of the cinema scenario. The restaurants are often on the border of a water current and offer terraces under the trees of the park.

Bridge of Love

One of the famous landmarks of Vrnjačka Banja is Bridge of Love.

Padlocks of the Bridge of Love.

("Мост Љубави - Bridge of Love"), History board.

 "At the dawn of the First World War, while the war was not even suspected yet, a schoolmistress Nada and a Serbian officer Relja started having deep feelings for each other. They fell in love and made a commitment to each other. It was a love widely talked about, attracting the attention of all the people living at Vrnjacka Banja Spa. But the war did break out with all the horrors it entails. Relja went off to war fought in Greece. He left never to return on account of a beautiful Greek woman he had fallen in love with, and therefore broke up the engagement to Nada. The legend does not say anything about his further fate, whereas, on the other hand, every inhabitant of Vrnjacka Banja spa is familiar with Nada's destiny. Owing to overwhelming sorrow she faded away day after day and finally died, young and miserable. Upset by Nada's destiny, girls, wishing to keep their own romances, started writing down their names along with the names of their lovers on padlocks that they bound to the railing of the bridge which used to be the favorite meeting place of Nada and Relja. Afterward the keys were symbolically thrown into the river. New wars and sufferings came up. The story fell into oblivion, and the girl's custom to "bind" their love became uncustomary. It had been case until Desanka Maksimovic,according to the stories of old residents of Vrnjacka Banja spa, became acquainted with this tragic story. Inspired by it she wrote down one of her most beautiful love poems "A Prayer for Love", (Molitva za ljubav). Although we tend to forget things, this story remains to be unforgotten, and in order to prolong its existence the young couples kept on with the tradition of "binding" their love and it bridge itself got the name "THE BRIDGE OF LOVE"."

The Momentum Team

Momentum are really proud to be part of this amazing project, we are supporting it from the background but here is some information about who our team is...

Andrew Hadley - CEO

I have always been interested in other languages and cultures, and have lived and worked in many different countries. As British Council director in Macedonia, I created the Blue Sky network and several other innovative international youth projects. That is how I discovered my passion for working with young people, which led to setting up Momentum with Paul and Trevor. I firmly believe in the power of international exchange and intercultural learning to change lives, and I want to create more opportunities for this, especially for UK young people. I love music, film, architecture and of course my family.

Trevor Keough - Operations Director

Hello. I am Trevor Keough and I am the Operations Director for Momentum responsible for all logistic, planning and financial matters as well as being involved in training and facilitation. I enjoy our work with Momentum, making a difference in young people’s lives. I want to do more of this and help to build a successful social enterprise, growing and providing employment for others.
My other interests are my family, hill walking, rugby, golf, travel and current affairs.

Paul Oxborough - Creative Director

Since the age of 17 I have worked as a trained Youth & Community worker, I professionally qualified in 1992. Since then I have used innovation and technology to push the boundaries in my youth work in order to make projects educational, empowering and inclusive. I set up a successful film training company in 2000 and I am a founding Director of Momentum. My work has allowed me to travel the world and meet some inspirational characters along the way. I am married with two teenage girls and I enjoy reading, motorbikes, running and new gadgets.

Amy Stables - Creative Assistant

I first worked with Momentum in 2007 when I was studying for my A-levels. Unsure what interest to pursue at University, Momentum gave me the opportunity to develop my film making skills through working on international projects. This is where my love for filmmaking grew. Now, having completed my degree in Film and Television production. I am back working for Momentum, on projects which benefit young people like myself. I am an example of how Momentum work with young people long term and help provide an array of opportunities. I have a passion for the outdoors, travelling and photography.