Kindervreugd vzw

Kindervreugd is a non-profit youth work initiative. With volunteers and the support of the city of Antwerp and the province of Antwerp, the organization wants to emancipate young people, and enhance their socio-cultural skills by organizing playground activities, youth camps and training activities. Kindervreugd is a volunteer organization with more than 75 years of activities in Antwerp. Kindervreugd offers holiday camps in Belgium and abroad to children and young adults aged between 6 and 21. Kindervreugd also organizes playground activities in and around Antwerp for children and teenagers aged between 3 and 15. Kindervreugd can count on an extensive network of volunteers, each holiday about 800 volunteers help to organize playground activities and holiday camps. The organization is also supported by 11 professional staff members.

For the playground activities, Kindervreugd has one large playgrounds and eight ‘neighbourhood’ playgrounds. Kindervreugd also offers a mobile activity called Kwibus. Every day Kwibus goes a to different square in Antwerp to present children a range of free games.

During the holidays, Kindervreugd organizes holiday camps in Belgium and abroad. The camps in Belgium are organized in facilities managed by Kindervreugd. This is where Kindervreugd organizes sports, games and creative holiday camps. There is also a tent camp at Weweler during the summer. During the summer Kindervreugd also organizes inclusion camps such as ‘Puur plezier’ (‘Pure pleasure’), a camp for children in Special Needs Schools – type 2, ‘Auticamp’ for children with autism spectrum disorder and ‘Uitdaging op wieltjes’ (‘Challenge on wheels’), a camp where both able and disabled children and teenagers are welcome. All this is supported by professional staff members from within the organization. Outside Belgium we organize several camps. Then there are numerous ski holidays in Europe with professional teachers who have often learned to ski or snowboard at a Kindervreugd camp.

Kindervreugd also organizes training courses for volunteers. There is a youth leader training course offered by Kindervreugd. The year the teenager turns 16, he or she can do the practical training at one of our playgrounds. They are trained as youth leader, head youth leader and chief youth leader for the organization. They eventually form part of the management of the organization. Kindervreugd contributes largely to the ongoing training of volunteers.

Also during the year volunteers are encouraged to take part in the educational activities and enhance their skills. The courses offered by Kindervreugd are completely supported by volunteers. The training activities throughout the year are worked out by professionals and volunteers from the organization.