During May, the Federal Council of FICE met in Plovdiv in Bulgaria. South Eastern Europe had been constituted as a member of FICE only recently, and the meeting was the first Council meeting in Bulgaria - at least, in recent times.

Splendour in Plovdiv

Very few of the Federal Council members knew much about Plovdiv, but Bulgarian colleagues had made splendid arrangements. Feelings among the CF participants regarding the hotel were rather ambivalent. On the one hand this strikingly luxurious hotel seemed to be an utterly inappropriate venue for a FICE meeting; on the other hand (as fairly reasonable rates - far below the 'actual' rates - had been negotiated by our Bulgarian hosts) participants slowly began to enjoy the ambience, in particular the extremely spacious rooms .

Some participants thought, when they first saw their rooms, they were entering a luxurious dormitory to be shared by all CF delegates and it took them some while to
find out that these were "single" rooms. There was general agreement that people had hardly ever seen, let alone stayed in hotel rooms this size. And some even managed to occupy two of these enormous rooms !

How ? Well, it was St.George's Day on May 6th (must be the orthodox calendar) and the Georgiev family were celebrating the day of their patron saint at the hotel together with some 200 invited guests. Hearing them dancing the night away lost its charm when the clock showed way beyond midnight, but the hotel responded immediately, very generously offering quiet rooms on the far side to those on the "loud" side. There were even staff members helping them change to their new rooms at two in the morning.

History and Sights

Of course, there wasn't only the hotel, but there was also a magnificent city at its doorstep. Plovdiv claims to be the oldest city in Europe, definitely older than Athens. The town with its ancient amphitheatre, its medieval lanes and wooden houses, its mosque, and its empire and art deco buildings and squares was overwhelming to the unexpecting visitor.

And so was the beautiful countryside with its old and beautifully decorated monasteries setting the scene for a feast modestly called a 'picnic' on the last day. It was a Federal Council meeting full of surprises - pleasant surprises, with beautiful memories of
Bulgaria.

Membership Matters

Fourteen countries were represented, and among those present were delegates from Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Macedonia. Together with Serbia and Montenegro, they make up FICE South Eastern Europe, so that all the countries making up the former Yugoslavia are now in membership.

The French National Section of FICE reported, having arisen as a newly-fledged phoenix from the ashes of ANCE. The new organisation is called le Réseau National des Communautés Educatives (RNCE), and it already has fifty individual members and a hundred institutional members.

In Congo a branch of FICE had been established, and new members were also applying from Belarus, Ukraine and Catalonia in Spain.

Iraq

A matter of great concern was the situation in Iraq, and it was decided that through the Treasurer’s contacts, a report would be prepared to assess whether FICE could contribute to the reconstruction of the country’s childcare systems.

Friendship Camps

As usual a summer Friendship Camp was being set up for young people and their carers from countries of the former Yugoslavia. These have proved very successful, and the organisers were hoping that other countries might be interested in participating.

Quality in Extrafamilial Care

FICE Austria, together with IFCO and SOS Kinderdorf, had been working on a project called Quality in the best interests of the child. Its aims are to ensure that children in extrafamilial care have good developmental opportunities, and that best practice becomes standard throughout Europe. Co-ordinators were sought from every country, so that the findings could be promulgated through a wide range of fact-finding consultations and seminars.

Text Book on Residential Care

It was agreed that support should be given to the publication of Learning to work methodically in residential settings, a text-book written by two Dutch authors for use in courses and workshops. It had already been translated into Russian.

Business

As usual, there were quite a few business matters to deal with. It was agreed to renominate the President for his third two-year term (the maximum permitted). A questionnaire for National Sections was under way, but more returns were needed. IGfH, FICE Germany, had generously decided to return money sent to fund the Berlin Congress, which would now be used to support the Sarajevo Congress in 2006. No candidate had yet been found to be Secretary General, and arrangements to site the secretariat in Bulgaria had not eventuated.

Congress 2004 in Glasgow, Scotland

Jennifer Davidson, recently appointed as head of the Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care (SIRCC), attended to report on progress. There will be two Congresses - one (subsidised) for young people near Glasgow and the main FICE Congress as usual. Key note speakers were to be Jim Anglin, Tim Duffy and Jaap Doek. All the plans were in hand, and registrations for both Congresses were now welcome. It was hoped that help would be available for those who found the costs unduly high.

Future Meetings

Following the meeting to be held in Glasgow, it was agreed that the Federal Council would meet in the Netherlands in Spring 2005 and, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of the FICE National Section, in Romania in September 2005.

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