Where we work in Europe

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, Passport

• Launched 2011
• Children this year - 337
• Total children since launch - 3,469

Zippy’s Friends, Apple's Friends and Passport are running in French-speaking Belgium. The programmes are being run by Educa Santé, an agency funded by the Ministry of Health, which implements government policy for francophone Belgium. Educa Santé provides advice and training on the promotion of health and safety, and the prevention of violence and trauma in homes and schools.

Our partner in Belgium - Educa Santé

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, Passport and SPARK Resilience

• Launched 2014
• Children this year - 45
• Total children since launch - 3,622

Animus Association is a large, well-established Bulgarian NGO, providing rehabilitation, counselling and psychotherapy services to adults, young people and children. It also works in the community, lobbying and working with a network of partners, and runs a training centre for professionals and students. Animus runs a helpline and a crisis unit for survivors of violence, and the National Helpline for Children.

Our partner in Bulgaria - Animus Association

Programme: Zippy's Friends

• Launched 2001
• Children this year - 6,875
• Total children since launch - 19,850

Denmark was the first country to pilot Zippy’s Friends, and was originally run by Odense Socialpaedagogiske Seminarium. The Danish programme is now managed by StyrkeAkademiet (Strengths Academy) which provides a range of Positive Education training and resources to schools. The skills that children learn from Zippy’s Friends fit well with the agenda for 21st Century Learning, now being adopted by many Danish schools.

Our partner in Denmark - StyrkeAkademiet

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, SPARK Resilience

• Launched 2015
• Children this year - 4,768
• Total children since launch - 15,719

E-Clinic is an NGO, with 30+ years of experience. It provides support for young children, adolescents and adults, to promote good emotional wellbeing and to prevent and treat eating disorders and other conditions (such as ADHD in adulthood). E-Clinic manage a number of programmes in Czechia, making use of technology and peer forums, as well as working with teachers and psychologists. Zippy's Friends and Apple's Friends in Czechia have been supported by EU Structural Funds. SPARK Resilience, launched in 2022 is supported by The Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports.

Our partner in the Czech Republic - E-Clinic

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, Passport, Zippy's Friends for Pupils with SEND, SPARK Resilience.

• Launched 2003
• Children this year - 8,070
• Total children since launch - 102,772

Partnership for Children works with schools and other settings to deliver the Skills for Life programmes in the UK and in English speaking international schools around the world.

To find out more about the UK programme and to book training for your setting, please email us info@partnershipforchildren.org.uk.

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, Passport

• Launched 2015
• Children this year - 90
• Total children since launch - 1,258

After an initial pilot of Zippy's Friends (Les amis de Zippy) in Paris, from 2008 to 2011, which proved unsustainable, the programme has been re-launched in the Charente Maritime region by the Fédération Départementale des Foyers Ruraux de Charente Maritime. Les amis de Zippy has been run in two different settings: in classes in the regular school day, and in the after-school period (Temps d’Acceuil Péri-Educatif, or TAPE). A survey by the Regional Health Observatory found that the area is at risk of significant academic failure, due to increasingly fragile links in the economy, family and the wider culture, and the introduction of Les amis de Zippy is part of the Federation’s efforts to support rural communities, and the wellbeing of children in particular. Apple's Friends (Les amis de Pomme) has now been introduced as a follow-up programme to Zippy and more recently, Passport is now running in France.

Partner (in the Charente Maritime area only): Fédération Départementale des Foyers Ruraux de Charente Maritime

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends

• Launched 2005
• Children this year - 2,106
• Total children since launch - 24,805

The Public Health Institute of Iceland launched Vinir Zippys as part of its Mental Health Promotion Project. From 2000, the Institute made mental health promotion a priority under the slogan ‘There is no health without mental health’, and introduced a number of different projects to promote Icelanders’ mental health across the lifespan and in different settings. The programme is now managed by the Icelandic Directorate of Health.

After a small start in the capital, Reykjavik, Zippy’s Friends has spread widely across the country and is well established in schools and kindergartens. Apple’s Friends will be available to schools in Iceland 2023-2024

Our partner in Iceland - Icelandic Directorate of Health

Programme: Zippy's Friends

• Launched 2007
• Children this year - 6,375
• Total children since launch - 69,469

The Health Service Executive (HSE) runs Zippy's Friends in schools in the Republic of Ireland. The HSE is responsible for running the country's health and personal social services, and Zippy's Friends was introduced as part of its programme for mental health promotion.

The pilot programme ran in three areas in the north west of the country: Donegal, Sligo/Leitrim and Galway. An extensive evaluation of the programme, involving both experimental and control groups, took place under the direction of Dr Margaret Barry at NUI Galway, and the results (published in 2010) were extremely positive. Many more teachers and almost 30 health promotion officers have now been trained to roll out the programme across the country.

Irish schools interested in our other Skills for Life programmes; Apple’s Friends, Passport or SPARK Resilience, please contact info@partnershipforchildren.org.uk.

Our partner in Ireland - HSE

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, Zippy's Friends for Pupils with SEND

• Launched 2000
• Children this year - 23,001
• Total children since launch - 335,335

Zippy's Friends (Zipio Draugai) has been running in Lithuania since 2000, and has grown from a small pilot study in the capital, Vilnius, to become a national programme, with classes running in kindergartens in all ten counties.

It was introduced through the collaboration of two agencies – the Education Development Centre, attached to the Ministry of Education and Science, and Lithuania’s first NGO, the Youth Psychological Aid Centre. Thereafter, a new non-profit agency was set up to run the programme, Vaiko Labui (‘for the best interests of the child’).

In 2020, Vaiko Labui celebrated 20 years of Zippy's Friends in Lithuania, holding a wide variety of events in schools across the country.

Vaiko Labui has now introduced Apple’s Friends into Lithuanian schools, and is also implementing the Special Needs version of Zippy’s Friends.

Lithuania’s second largest chain of supermarkets, IKI, is a generous sponsor of the programme.

Our partner in Lithuania - Vaiko Labui

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends

• 2008 - 2019
• Total children - 24,431

Zippy’s Friends started in The Netherlands in January 2009, with a small pilot involving twelve schools in Rotterdam and The Hague. The foundation Kids and Emotional Competencies (KEC) was set up to manage the programme there, with the cooperation of GGD Rotterdam-Rijnmond, the municipal health service. The programme was evaluated by the respected Trimbos Institute.

Dutch speaking organisations or schools interested in the Skills for Life programmes should contact info@partnershipforchildren.org.uk.

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends, Passport, Zippy's Friends for Pupils with SEND

• Launched 2004
• Children this year - 15,050
• Total children since launch - 416,757

One of Norway’s leading children’s charities, Voksne for Barn (‘Adults for Children’), manages Zippy's Friends (Zippys Venner) in Norway.

The programme is being funded by the Department of Health, and is unusual in that school nurses are involved as well as teachers. The programme started with a small number of schools in just two areas, but has spread significantly across the country. The National Directorate for Education and Training recommends the programme, and it has been included in the National Action Plan on Mental Health in Schools.

An evaluation study of Zippy's Friends conducted in Norway, the largest and most rigorous so far, produced very positive results.

Voksne for Barn now runs Passport in schools as well, and is piloting Zippy’s Friends for Pupils with Special Needs.

Voksne for Barn provides a variety of services to promote the wellbeing of children and adolescents.

Our partner in Norway - Voksne for Barn

Programme: Zippy's Friends, SPARK Resilience

• Launched 2004
• Children this year - 20,790
• Total children since launch - 296,542

Zippy’s Friends in Poland (Przyjaciele Zippiego) has grown very rapidly, and is one of the largest in Europe. Zippy’s Friends in Poland is run by the ex-Director of Centrum Metodyczne Psychologiczno-Pedagogicznej (CMPPP), Ela Nerwinska. Ela set up a non-public in-service teacher training centre, Centrum Pozytywnej Edukacji (Centre of Positive Education, or COPE) to implement the programme in Poland.

Zippy’s Friends started in schools and kindergartens in Warsaw, and since then has spread throughout the country through the nationwide network of training centres, reaching many thousands of children. SPARK Resilience was launched with a pilot in 2022.

Our partner in Poland - COPE

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends

• 2016 - 2022
• Total children - 1,509

Escutar, a well-established agency for mental health promotion and suicide prevention based in Porto, introduced Zippy’s Friends under the name of Amigos do Ziki in 2016 and later Apple’s Friends under the name of Amigos do Maca.

Portuguese organisations or schools interested in the Skills for Life programmes should contact info@partnershipforchildren.org.uk.

Programmes: Zippy's Friends, Apple's Friends

• Launched 2013
• Children this year - 4,840
• Total children since launch - 27,267

Zippy’s Friends was launched in Slovakia by the League for Mental Health Slovakia, and started in the capital, Bratislava, and the nearby town of Trnava. It has now been taken over by a new NGO, OZ Zippy which was established in May 2018. Its main purpose is to run programmes Zippy's Friends and Apple's Friends in the Slovak Republic. The work is coordinated by Sasha Brazinova, with project management dealt with by Katarina Zjavkova. Both programmes are getting increased interest in the country. Successful implementation is possible thanks to a group of enthusiastic trainers that act also as programme supervisors and evaluators.

Our partner in Slovakia - OZ Zippy

Programmes: SPARK Resilience

• Launched: 2023

Smart Osvita is an NGO working with teachers and parents to support education in Ukraine. Founded in 2016, they have run numerous educational projects including working with children with SEND and supporting children and parents during Covid. Since the start of the war, the team have been helping Ukrainian school children, parents and teachers to remain active participants in the educational process by implementing training and pshycological assistance projects for Ukrainian children and educators including introducing SPARK Resilience in 2023.

Our partner in Ukraine - Smart Osvita