NOS/Auke Alders
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NOS News•today, 21:02
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Now that corona is in the background, the Dutch are going on holiday again en masse. But for many families that is not an option due to lack of money.
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This is also reflected in the Weekje Weg Foundation, which organizes free holidays for families who cannot afford it themselves. “We notice that the demand for our holidays is increasing,” says director Sacha Engelschman. “People come to us through food banks, social workers and youth care. I hear from those agencies that they are now busier with people who are affected by the rising prices. Food banks get more customers, so there are also more people who would use want to make Weekje Weg.”
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Through the foundation, families can stay for a week at recreational areas in the Veluwe or in Ommen. According to Engelschman, most have not had enough money for a holiday for years. “But with the high inflation, it is also about people who have had a hard time keeping their heads above water lately.”
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Precilla Ruwaard and her children are on holiday through the Weekje Weg Foundation:
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Not on holiday due to high inflation?
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We spoke to two more people for whom every year vacation is not an option:
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On holiday for the first time, via the Salvation Army
The 39-year-old Danielle (her last name is known to the editors) only went on holiday for the first time in her life last year. She did this in a hotel of the Salvation Army, which offers holidays at a greatly reduced rate. “My son could enjoy going into the woods with other children there, and there were also all kinds of activities such as a boat trip. Really relaxing.”
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The Salvation Army offers an all-inclusive stay of a week in the woods near Ede for minimums, for a fee of 125 euros for adults and 40 for children.
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“I never had enough money for a vacation,” Danielle says. “I worked for Action for fourteen years, but for a year now I have been on welfare. Caring for my son, who has ADHD and Gilles de la Tourette, was no longer combinable with work. I also did not grow up in luxury, so can already enjoy the rod and a little fishing.” But next month they can go on holiday again, this time through another organization, De Vakantiebank. “We are going to Bakkeveen in Friesland. That will really be another week to enjoy.”
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“Holidays are the first to be canceled”
Also for 56-year-old Marjan (last name known to the editors) an annual holiday is not a matter of course. She has no plans this year. “My partner and I have low incomes, so we look very carefully at what we spend money on and then holidays are the first to fall off.”
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She says that high inflation is certainly a factor now. “You really notice it, I’ve just done weekly shopping and when you see how much more expensive everything has become, that’s shocking. Fortunately, we are economical with energy, for example we don’t have a dryer, turn off the lights as much as possible and the heating doesn’t go off. higher than 18 degrees.”
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Crete after three years of no holiday: something truly exceptional
Last year Marjan and her partner did go on holiday to Crete, after not being away for three years. “We had saved up some money again and received a tip of an address in an area where it was not that expensive, also due to the corona situation. We really experience such a holiday as something exceptional, such a treat. On the plane back, people said they were going to Ibiza the following weekend. Well, that’s not one of them for us.”
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She doesn’t mind that she can’t go on vacation every year. “We live close to the beach, we sometimes go there for a sunset or we go cycling. Those kinds of experiences are also beautiful.”
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