Bamberg: Circus project

With € 30,000, the Max-Brose-Hilfe makes the start of the project possible – Circus helps.
Circus Giovanni Bamberg is planning supportive offers for up to 3000 participating children and young people in the Bamberg region from autumn 2022. The offers will also be open to non-Ukrainian children in order to promote the urgently needed integration of refugees. All offers are made in close coordination and cooperation with the local public authorities and refugee aid organisations and are adapted to the living environment, the current living situations and the needs of the target group. Cooperation partners are: City of Bamberg, Bamberg District Office and the refugee organisations Freund statt fremd (Friend instead of stranger) and BA:UA e.V. – Ukrainian Association Bamberg.

From the project proposal:

“The worldwide “Social Circus” movement has established circus tents and circus offers for children and young people as a helping intervention in many refugee hotspots in recent years. The circus tent serves as a “safe, playful place” in refugee work. Circus education also provides a good variety of offers where children can experience themselves as self-effective and successful and leave their role as passive refugee victims. Circus work has a strong integrating orientation across all language barriers and playfully integrates children from different backgrounds. Circus Giovanni has also been working regularly with underage refugees in its own tent since 2015 and at the Ankerzentrum Bamberg (since 2021). In 2018, Circus Giovanni developed an international concept for circus work with refugee children and young people under the auspices of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL and with the cooperation of Altro Circo (Italy), Cabuwazi (Germany), Sirkus magenta (Finland) and Circus planet (Belgium). It is now planned to implement these goals and contents in the current refugee crisis”.