MAVEN - "An expert, especially as regards knowledge through networked information"The MAVEN project brings together a range of partners with a common background in direct support for minorities and migrants. All of us have developed a strong skills base, through provision of training, intercultural work, welfare and/or family support, at the local and the transnational level. Thanks to this experience and activity, we have very strong links into the migrant and minority communities in our local areas. We want to use this skill set to promote improved access to Vocational Education and Training by the migrant and minority community. We will do this by mapping the routeway that individuals have taken into successful VET, and then proposing to other participants that they consider these proven ways to enhance their own personal and professional development. Equally important will be the mapping of the reasons (blockages) that have stopped others from the minority community from successfully accessing training. The results will be used to provide practical advice to those who need it, both minorities and the organisations seeking to help them. This is not an academic study - it is based firmly on real stories and real people, working together to improve their situation both in the project, for themselves, and on a wider level, by publication of useful results.