Young people whose family members have cancer can follow workshops to become volunteers, thanks to the cooperation of Inloophuis De Eik and Pak de Vibe.
For young people whose loved one is ill, it is valuable to come into contact with people of the same age who are in the same situation. “But without having to talk about this all the time,” says Fleur Besters of Pak de Vibe.
The idea is that by having the young people participate in workshops, the threshold for doing voluntary work is lower. The first workshops are an introduction, after which young people can choose which skills they want to develop. After that, they can follow four more workshops, such as sports or cooking, but welding or live streaming are also possible. They can then use these skills as volunteers.
Doing something fun
“We mainly want to do something fun,” says Besters. “We want to create a place for young people where they can talk to others in the same situation. Where they can find a listening ear. But that should not predominate. It is also good to just be busy. And if you want to say something, you can”.
The initiative has stirred up a lot of activity, says Besters. “Without there being an immediate storm, by the way. It is not easy to get young people to sign up for something. We therefore started the workshop last Thursday with three young people, but we hope that more will sign up in the coming period”.
‘Unexpected Enthusiasm’
“But the idea is alive and well. The Catharina Hospital immediately offered to publicise the project, and social workers have also told us that they know young people who could join. We had not expected such enthusiasm”, says Besters.
The first workshop took place last Thursday. This Thursday there will be another workshop; you can register via the websites of De Eik and Pak de Vibe. “And that is also possible after the summer. Because we want to continue the project after the summer holidays. This is something for the long haul, we assume that after a while it will become easier and easier to bind young people to us”, says Besters.
Source: Studio040.nl
Translated by: Anitha Sevugan
