BRUSSELS, September 22, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- If you're seeking a strong human interest story, then take a look at the European Social Fund. Far from being a set of dry statistics, the ESF is the framework for thousands of fascinating tales of individual human endeavour.

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http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/europeancommission/44185/

In response to the economic crisis, the ESF is helping 10 million Europeans a year to overcome obstacles and get their lives back on track. It invests EUR10 billion annually in projects that enable individuals to train in a new skill, find a better job, set up a business, and much more. The ESF was launched over 50 years ago, and since then it has expanded to meet the changing needs of Europe's population. From just 1% of the EU budget in 1970, it now accounts for 10%. Between 2007 and 2013, some EUR75 billion is being invested.

ESF projects help people in every situation you can imagine: coping with disability or finding childcare, launching a company or making the move from school to work, dealing with redundancy, integrating into a new community or finding a job as they get older. All the projects are designed and run by partner organisations such as educational institutions, voluntary bodies or trade unions, who are familiar with local and regional needs.

What we can offer you

A wide range of videos ( http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/video/videos_en.htm), interviews (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/video/videos_en.htm) and photos (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/photos/photos_en.htm) are ready for your use. They include 11 VNRs in 23 languages (6'35secs) on the ESF in action.

To give you a further flavour of the ESF's impact on people's lives, 54 individual stories (http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=668langId=en) - two from each EU country - are now available as short video clips (1'-1'30secs) in 23 languages, to view or follow up

You can download (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/video/videos_en.htm) all videos in broadcast quality (23 languages - sorted by theme and country) and texts (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/video/videos_en.htm) of longer interviews, for your own use.

Here you can access a photo library ( http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/photos/photos_en.htm) with pictures of individual interviewees

Information about the ESF in all EU countries (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/members/index_en.htm)

To order the free book Making a difference in life - The EU investing in people through the European Social Fund, (http://bookshop.europa.eu/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/WFS/EU-Bookshop-Site/ en_GB/-/EUR/ViewPublication-Start?PublicationKey=KE7809858) with all 54 interviews plus a DVD of the video clips, available in 23 EU languages.

(Due to the length of this URL, it may be necessary to copy and paste this hyperlink into your Internet browser's URL address field. Remove the space if one exists.)

More information about ESF activities (http://ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf/index_en.htm)

For more information on the people and projects, contact esf@ec.europa.eu

SOURCE: European Commission - DG Employment

CONTACT: For more information on the people and projects, contactesf@ec.europa.eu