Activities for young people who care

From June 1 to 7, the municipality of Kerkrade, together with Impuls Kerkrade and the Support Center for Caregivers, is organizing several activities for young people who care.

Nearly a quarter of all young people in the Netherlands care for someone. They grow up with someone in their immediate environment who needs support. That could be a parent, a brother or sister, but also a grandparent or good neighbor. Does someone in your home have an illness, disability, depression or addiction? And do you often worry because of this, or do you help a lot at home by, for example, running errands or caring for that person? Then you are a young family caregiver!

"In the first week of June, several fun activities will take place for young people who care. This is because the municipality of Kerkrade, in cooperation with Impuls Kerkrade and the Support Center for Caretakers, would like to put these young people in the spotlight," said Alderman Jongen (Wmo). Alderman Schlangen (Youth and youth work): "The goal is that these young people can relax here and meet other young people who also care. Of course, all these activities will take into account the corona measures in force."

The program

On Tuesday, June 1, Young Caregiver Week will kick off. The kickoff will be shown on Youtube at 16:00. For the link, keep an eye on the municipal facebook page. Among others, Alderman Jongen (Wmo) and Alderman Schlangen (Youth and youth work) will be present at this kickoff. Pepijn Caumon, the face of this project and also a young caregiver himself, will also be present at the kickoff.

On the day after kickoff, a pleasant afternoon will be organized at the playground in the City Park. Both children and their parents can spend a relaxing afternoon here through various activities. In addition, children and parents can talk to people from the Support Center for Informal Caregivers.

On Thursday, June 3, at 3:30 p.m., the free webinar "POWERFUL & Vulnerable" will take place. Presenter Vivian Lataster will talk to young family caregivers. Their experiences and wishes are central. Participation in the webinar is valuable for young informal caregivers as well as for anyone who is involved with a young informal caregiver in his or her (volunteer) work or private life. Registration is available until May 27. Click here to sign up.

On Fridays, there will be a chill afternoon and chill night with a movie and pizza. The chill afternoon is designed for children ages 6 to 12 and the chill night for young people ages 13 to 18. Participants can choose activities such as listening to music, making TikTok videos and gaming together. During the evening, young people can talk to each other and exchange experiences.

Finally, an outing to the barefoot path in Brunssum will be organized on Saturday. Here young people can interact with other young people who care and have a good time in a low-threshold way.

At the conclusion of the activities, all youth who registered with the Support Center for Informal Caregivers will receive a goodie bag to take home.

Sign up

Below is an overview of all activities. If you would like to sign up for one (or more) of the activities, please email: dverbocht@impulskerkrade.nl

Tuesday, June 1

Wednesday, June 2

Thursday, June 3

Friday, June 4

Saturday, June 5