What will 2023 bring? We ask six IJmonders

“I am now 83 and still have three years in the city council, then I stop. You have to put a lot of energy and work into it, but I have that, you know. I make plans, but I also want to implement them.”

“Here in the council it’s just like The Hague, it’s talk, talk, talk. But if I submit a motion to solve the problems at Europaplein, no one will be home. It is more important to them that in three years’ time they I don’t mind being re-elected.“

“But health, that’s the most important thing. I’ve been sick the past week, I’ve been lying on the couch with pneumonia since Friday. But being sick for a while doesn’t mean I don’t have any plans!”

“I would like to see a lot of construction for young people. And a start can be made on a high-tech campus at Tata Steel. We just have to doing!“

“I do both: singing coach of participants in all kinds of programs on TV, such as The Masked Singer and singing teacher of children and adults here in Uitgeest. That was not easy when I started at the music school in the village in 2020: you were not allowed to sing together .”

“It sounds a bit… how shall I put it, exaggerated? But I’m very happy with my role in the village. For example, I see children who are normally introverted, which is totally fine of course, revving up in singing and that’s very nice, that can do a lot for your self-confidence.”

“And then a very sweet gentleman who arranges everything in the nursing home asks how much it costs if my singing groups come to perform. Nothing of course! And especially for the children that is a real performance, and that’s how we bring people together. I want to do that in 2023 Lake.”

“It’s just great as Uitgeest to do that. I’ve learned: there is no one who really can’t sing, that just doesn’t exist. And you don’t need anything for it.”

“Many things have become out of balance, and in the coming year I hope that the balance will return a bit. We have to do something for that: make good plans and roll up our sleeves.”

“Too many people in IJmuiden and also in Velsen-Noord in particular feel that they no longer belong. That is really bad. There is a social, economic and cultural gap. We have to recognize that gap next year , listen to those people and then come up with good plans that are really widely supported.”

“We no longer need to conduct research: the reports are already in a drawer and nothing has been done with them yet! We all wish each other good health, but it is all connected: work, income and health. Every plan will have to meet those three things to be tested.”

“I would like to expand. I went from the attic to the barn and it has been converted into a shop. Now I actually have to rebuild the large rack in the shop, but there is no more space.”

“You can buy a batch of Lego per kilo. I buy batches, each brick has a serial number and I put that in the database. I have 100 to 200,000 bricks here.”

“Buyers know how to find me on the internet, where they ask: ‘do you have that stone or do you have that stone’. But they also come to the store, from everywhere, as long as it is easy to drive.”

“I have just started building a large crane, the mast is 90 centimeters. There are people who make Lego designs, I buy them. I collect the bricks here. That will take six months or a year, and then it is here for viewing for the time being. After that, such a structure can yield 700 to 800 euros.”

“From my work I can only say how lucky we are in beautiful Beverwijk. Me too with my family, my children. If you hear a bang it is fireworks, not a bomb. We are rich and privileged to live here, so we should really enjoy that, but we don’t always realize that.”

“Of course I hope that in the coming year we can also help the refugees on our ship. We still have two months to go, but personally I hope for more. That the children can continue to go to school, that people get a BSN get a number and be able to work. We need people, they want to work.”

“We can’t imagine it: one minute they had a car, a house, a bank account, and the next minute someone says, ‘now it’s mine’. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”

“It starts here with politics. If it is decided there that it is possible, we can give them language lessons, internships and other opportunities. I hope for that.”