Extra support for children who live in poverty or have problems at home: hundreds of primary school students have jointly determined in recent months where Kinderposttempels should spend extra money. This money comes from the Children's Wallet, a special fund of Children's Postage Stamps that was established this year and for which children can choose a destination themselves. With this unique initiative, children not only contribute their input, but they also decide where the money from Children's Postage Stamps goes.
The money from the Children's Wallet is used to contribute to themes that children find important. This year was the first. 452 children from groups 7 and 8 from various primary schools throughout the Netherlands, according to a proven methodology, thought about a good destination for the money from the first Children's Wallet. With more than 85 percent, they opted for two major themes: poverty and problems at home. They believe that children in particular who cannot participate because there is little money in their family or other major problems should receive extra help. They also asked for extra attention for children whose parents are divorcing. Sofie Vriends, director of Children's Postage Stamps: “We certainly support this choice. In the Netherlands, 1 in 12 children grows up in poverty and 1 in 4 children in the Netherlands has a parent with an addiction or psychological problems. Together with our partners, we can spend the money from the Children's Wallet on these important themes.”
Unique children's participation
This way of allowing children to think and decide is unique. “The voice of children is extremely important to us,” says Sofie Vriends. “We are the charity organization with and for children. We stand for equal development opportunities and we know that children really want to help other children. These are not just principles on paper. We also act accordingly. We let children think about which topics are important to them. And they also determine where the money goes. This form of child participation has never been seen before on this scale. It enables children to help each other in a very concrete way.”
Let every child participate
Kinderposttempels stands for equal development opportunities for children. Due to poverty or problems at home, many children are unable to participate. Friends: “We of course hope that we can fill the Children's Wallet even further with the help of the Dutch public. We will take action to achieve this in the near future. So: do you support the goals that children have chosen themselves? And do you also believe that every child should be able to participate, despite poverty or problems at home? Then join us and give!”