Vital Kerkrade awards first certificates

The first ten participants of the Vital Kerkrade program successfully completed the training. They received in the Flexiforum a certificate as proof of participation and a fruit basket. Reintegration consultant Peggy Ras-Senden of the municipality of Kerkrade was one of the supervisors: "It was great to see the participants grow. Everyone made the necessary progress in his or her own way."

Vital Kerkrade is part of the large-scale health and vitality project Vie - Life in Motion. The goal is to bring people with a distance to the labor market closer to participation in society in twelve weeks. This can be in the form of paid work as well as volunteer work or, for example, informal care.

Participants are trained on four main components: vitality, exercise, nutrition and participation. Training sessions take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays. First an hour of theory followed by an hour of exercise. Roger Franck (56) was one of the participants. "Vital Kerkrade has given my life a boost," he says. "The social contact with the other participants, exchanging experiences, has done me good. I do quite a lot on my own and now I want to start exercising in groups; the municipality is going to help me with that. We are looking for something that suits me well." 

The broad scope of the program particularly appeals to Franck. "Initially I thought we would talk exclusively about work every week, but the opposite turned out to be true. There was a lot of variety in subject matter and the exercise also provided variety. Soon I was looking forward to the appointments every week. The girls from the council, Peggy and Kelly, also did a super job. Too bad the program ended."

Roger Franck struggles with heart problems and would prefer to do some hours of volunteer or paid work (sales) in the future. "I like to be among people and still want to contribute something to society. In addition, some extra money is also welcome, because a Social assistance benefit is not fat," he says.

Three return days are planned in 2022. Peggy Ras-Senden: "We then discuss where the participants are at that time. How far are they in achieving their personal goals? What additional needs might they have? How can we as a municipality still provide support?" Because of corona, it is as yet unclear when the next groups will start in 2022.