A great part of the children and young people with special educational needs and low social status do not have and effective regular access to the learning process. It is of great significance to the children in risk to take in consideration and further develop their existing skills and potential as much as possible. Therefore it is possible to direct the existing potential of the disabled children into mastering new skills, related to various techniques for applied arts and crafts. The creation of favourable conditions for the involvement of the disabled children into activities encouraging new ways of work and learning through creative art would help their successful social integration. The participation of the children in various forms of social life would improve their self-confidence and unlock their personal potential.

During the partner initiatives with representatives from the Craftsmen Union in Sopot, a great interest on behalf of the disabled children has been registered in creative and applied arts and old crafts. So among the first initiatives has been the organisation of visits to the Old Crafts` Centre from children. This is how the actual learning and transferring of knowledge from the craftsmen to the disabled children started, mainly in the area of traditional for the region crafts: wood carving, weaving.

All the project activities helped us to enlarge the contacts and partnership with other organisations, which at the same time enriched the variety of activities offered by the family consultative centre.

The steps undertaken within the project implementation were various we have started from the creation of a good team of specialists and parents, who set their main objective, namely: to work for the change of attitudes of the society towards the problems of the disabled children. In addition to that the team needed actual information and latest attitudes within the various sectors of the society, based on which the whole project could construct its future activities. After conducting a wide survey among children and young people, the team formed several working groups of kids, according to a set of criteria, set in advance. A voluntary group of people and craftsmen started the training process for several specialists, working particularly with the disabled children. The training included various techniques in the area of creative art and crafts and its objective was to prepare the specialists working with the disabled children to apply the most adequate and appropriate teaching methods. Further on several craft groups were formed: weaving group; jewelry design and ornaments group; craft products decoration group; paper and textile products group; natural applied arts group.

In order to bring forward the actual potential of all the disabled children it was necessary to organize a series of events, such as show rooms and exhibitions and demonstrate what their skills and achievements were. Many partners lend a helping hand in this initiative: the Municipality of Sopot, the association of the craftsmen, many local schools and children-gardens. All involved institutions took part in the preparation of each exhibition, popularising it and making it a merry event. Not less important has been the contribution of the media, which covered all steps of the project, transferring the project success among the community. What happened within the project cycle? The team organised several exhibitions and bazaars, which were during national or local religious and historical fests: Easter, 1^st March, Children s Day, Christmas. The events were open scenes not only for the disabled children, but also for many students from the local schools. A group of children visited the amusement park in the capital city Sofia Land.

Among the most interesting project steps were the actions directed towards the popularisation of the initiatives and influencing the attitudes towards the disabled children and their families among the community. Since the most important component was the involvement of young people, working in the long-term with disabled children, the main strategy of the project was to attract these young children, who were already active participants and initiators of youth activities in Sopot. In this way the project team got the support of many young people who were detached and away from the problems of the disabled children.

The project results were announced through an open demonstration event, during which the children showed what they have learned in the area of creative and applied arts. The demonstrations were covered by the local media and supported by the local partners.

Excellent conditions were created for working and developing the potential of the disabled children, together with other young people and the local community. The project outlined a new approach and path, which could be used both within the family-consultative centre and the local elementary schools. A visible effect from the efforts of the project was the increased interest and number of visitations from parents and their children in the family consultation centre.