Village cooperative Hollandscheveld Verbindt has received the Compliment of Drenthe 2024. In addition to the honorary title, the volunteers receive a cash prize of 3,000 euros.
Chairman Jan de Vries is ‘like a king’. “I am very happy, we were already happy with the nomination. This is great recognition and appreciation.” The money will be invested in a new office in the village center ‘t Anker.
The village cooperative connects residents in Hollandscheveld to help each other. Under the leadership of a village director, about a hundred volunteers are linked to fellow villagers who need help. “We provide both formal care and informal care with volunteers. For example, they transport people to a family party or to the hospital,” the chairman explains.
There are also about forty volunteers who relieve informal caregivers by taking over tasks from them. “And we also offer help with applying for benefits. The partitions away from healthcare and the partitions away from the village,” De Vries summarizes the mission of the cooperative.
The Compliment of Drenthe is awarded annually to an association, club, initiative or organization. The condition is that nominees make a contribution to society on a voluntary basis.
Deputy Yvonne Turenhout (PvdA) presented the prize in the provincial government building in Assen. The lucky ones from Village Cooperative Hollandscheveld Verbindt had gathered with the other four nominees: Assen Bloeit, Sigrids Garden Foundation, Onze Winkel Eext and Gees Verbindt.
This year’s theme was ‘informal care’, or care by non-professionals. This could involve helping neighbors or contacting fellow sufferers. “Such organizations are very important,” said jury chairman Johan Bosman. “They can relieve the burden on professional care or sometimes even prevent it.”
You could vote for one of the contenders until October 31. Then it was up to the jury to determine the final winner.
Last year, The Compliment of Drenthe went to the Phihezo Sport and Game Foundation. The foundation has been committed to giving people with intellectual and/or visual disabilities in Hoogeveen and the surrounding area access to sports and games since 1976. The theme last year was ‘equal opportunities’.