SocMed was founded on the idea that provision of aid, services, and knowledge could grow exponentially when delivered in a self-sustaining manner. The Training for Trainers seminars accomplish this goal and are an avenue for creating a large network of persons committed to social and medical projects. Training for Trainers workshops are organised in every location where the SocMed Programme is active. Most often, participants are parents, doctors, teachers, activists, students, and external authorities. In 2006, 40 seminars with well over 650 participants took place worldwide.
Social Cooperatives
The first new generation affected by the Chernobyl disaster is quickly approaching adulthood. Those who were some of the first beneficiaries of the SocMed Programme are no longer children, and 20 years after the disaster what they need more than medical attention are vocational skills and opportunities. Thus the SocMed Programme has matured along with those it aims to help, and recently added Social Cooperatives to the list of supported projects. Social Cooperatives aim to overcome poverty and strengthen local autonomy by fostering community development. Currently the Social Cooperative Programmes include home sewing businesses that employ 30 families and agricultural activities that employ over 22 families.
