The Vasil Levski Bulgarian School in London, Great Britain, implemented its project titled ‘Bulgarian Retro Bookmania in the Kingdom’, thanks to the Fund’s financial support agreed during its session, ‘“Sacred Language of My Forebears…”: Let Us Support Bulgarian Language Learning in Sunday Schools Abroad’.

The Vasil Levski Bulgarian School in London was included in the list of Sunday schools abroad approved for the academic year 2023/24 by the Ministry of Education and Science. It is the largest Bulgarian Sunday school in Europe. This year alone, 526 pupils are studying there. In addition to the mandatory curriculum, the school team maintains intensive extracurricular activities: interest clubs, creative workshops, and dance and drama training.

The project was implemented in several directions:

‘Open-air library in the “Merry Caravan”’: this is a library of Bulgarian books, as well as a reading corner available to pupils and parents during official events such as the opening and closing of the school year, Children’s Day, charitable events, vocational mini workshops, concerts, open-air lessons. Located outside, in front of the school building, near a cafe with colourful tables and chairs, the caravan with its retro thematics takes children back to the not-so-distant past, to the days of their parents, and grandparents. The Bulgarian ‘Karlovo’ store in Barking, London, provided the location where the caravan library is parked free of charge.

Audio recordings of parts of Bulgarian works from different epochs, including contemporary authors, to be read by Sunday school pupils. They are to be played both in the open-air library and in the schoolrooms.

Competition for a short literary work on a subject that takes children back to the young days of their parents: ‘When Mum Was a Child’ aims at provoking children to describe their perception of life in the past century. The produced works are exhibited in a corner designated for the purpose, and then included in a book, decorated and designed by the pupils themselves.

This project achieves an important goal: maintaining the connection with Bulgaria by not only enriching the cultural calendar of the Bulgarian Sunday School, but also encouraging children to study their oral and written, native Bulgarian language.