News item | 01-11-2022 | 1:00 pm
Cast your vote before November 26
From 52 applications, the jury led by Kathleen Ferrier (chairman of the Dutch Unesco Commission) selected 3 finalists who have a chance to win the Heritage Volunteer Award 2022. The volunteer teams of Museumboerderij Wendezoele, Openluchtbad Zwolle and the Van Eesterenmuseum have a chance to win the top prize of €10,000. You can vote until November 25 via heritage volunteer prize.nl. The award ceremony will take place on 1 December in theater Diligentia in The Hague.
About the finalists
The following 3 teams have been selected by the jury:
Museum farm Wendezoele
The monumental Erve Brinkcate can be found near the medieval town of Delden, near castle Twickel. This museum farm is located between well-maintained fields, gardens and orchard. A special place to discover the farm life of the past. For more than 25 years, the organization of Museum Farm Wendezoele has been entirely in the hands of volunteers. More than 75 people are regularly involved in the organization of the farm and yard and the passing on of the crafts to future generations.
Zwolle open-air bath
The Zwolse Openluchtbad was built in 1933 and was designed by architect JG Wiebenga in the style of Het Nieuwe Bouwen. In order to be able to continue to operate the pool, the Zwolle Open Air Bath Association was founded in 1992. This happened after the municipality wanted to demolish the swimming pool in 1989 and local residents squatted the pool. With this they managed to get the bath off the demolition list and designated a national monument. The association runs almost entirely on volunteers. Anyone can join on the condition that they volunteer a few hours per season. The association has more than 7,000 members and 150 permanent volunteers who are committed to it for a longer period of time. The volunteers are enthusiastic and involved and together with the members they ensure that the Open Air Bath can receive between 60,000 and 100,000 visitors per year.
Van Eesteren Museum
At the beginning of this century, Amsterdam Nieuw-West was described by the national media as “the worst neighborhood in the Netherlands”. A large number of local residents did not accept this and voluntarily started a neighborhood museum, without a physical building, consisting of walks through the neighborhood to show how beautiful it was. This grew into the Van Eesteren Museum today with its own pavilion. An inspiring example of an organization that has matured and professionalized through the efforts of volunteers and, moreover, still continues to use the strength, knowledge and skills of this very diverse group to strengthen its organization.
To vote
From November 1, 2022, you can vote for the 3 finalists. View on heritage volunteer prize.nl for the videos in which the volunteer teams introduce themselves and cast your vote before November 26, 2022.
Announcement winner on December 1, 2022
The winner will be announced on December 1, 2022 in theater Diligentia in The Hague. The winning team will receive a check for € 10,000 from the State Secretary for Culture and Media, Gunay Uslu. Half of this check can be spent freely and half to enable the transfer of knowledge in the field of voluntary work for which the team is committed. A check for € 5,000 is available for the numbers two and three. The ceremony is open to anyone who has reserved a (free) ticket via the website (while supplies last).
Why a Heritage Volunteer Award?
The Heritage Volunteer Award was established in 2020 by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science in appreciation of the large group of volunteers from the heritage sector. Volunteers make it possible to make the cultural heritage of our country accessible to the general public. The implementation of the project is in the hands of the Netherlands Monuments Land.
About the Netherlands Monument Land
The Netherlands Monument Land connects monuments to the daily life of every Dutch person in order to increase support for and the preservation of monuments. The Netherlands Monument Land does this by organizing meetings between owners, heritage professionals and the general public and the monuments. The Netherlands Monumentenland is the organizer of, among other things, the VriendenLoterij Open Monument Day, Open Monument Day Class Day, the National Monuments Congress and the Heritage vote.