Centro Social de Soutelo implemented the good pratice of Puppetry Art with beneficiaries of the Social Integration Income, whose main weaknesses are economic insufficiency, long-term unemployment, difficulty in labour reintegration, low educational qualifications and addictions, which are the more significant barriers to their social inclusion.

The group had twenty participants, eleven women and nine men, with ages between 18 and 65 years old, inhabitants of the municipality of Gondomar. The training took place from the 26th January to 24th March 2022. It was a group with low social-emotional abilities/skills, therefore the Step Up Project, specifically the Puppetry workshop was an asset to this people, because it allowed to fullfield this gap. It provided a space and a moment that resulted into a socio-emotional empowerment of the participants, giving them tools to recognise and manage their emotions, improve interpersonal relationships and increase their self-esteem.

The training had a good impact in this group. All the participants enjoyed doing it and hoped it continued, because they felt very good being with other people and learning new things, specially how to identify and workout their emotions, which will enhance their social relationships.