a house full of volunteers

a house full of volunteers In the place where the saxophone used to reverberate through the swinging jazz tent, different worlds now stand side by side to renovate and refurbish the story house into the meeting place, source of inspiration and historical experience that the building deserves and should be. From hiding place to wrestling club, Belvédère in Rotterdam Katendrecht has always been a house with an illustrious history. It was saved from demolition by hard-working volunteers and has become a home base of the best stories for and by Rotterdammers. Het Verhalenhuis started as a volunteer initiative and has indicated that it would like to keep it that way. Lillian Ketting, employee of Stichting Verhalenhuis Belvédère, says that this was a conscious choice. "It creates togetherness, a friendly atmosphere and a passion for the Story House". She describes it as an informal collaboration where many different volunteers work every day to create a beautiful meeting place. There are about 40 active hostesses and hosts who are also the face of the Verhalenhuis. "There are also 20 active guest chefs associated with Belvédère who cook something delicious and tell their life story," says Lillian enthusiastically. Furthermore, the Verhalenhuis still works with many part-time volunteers who are committed to various goals such as renovation, communication or transport. The volunteers have become indispensable in this organization, that is clear. Volunteers ensure togetherness, a friendly atmosphere and a passion for the Story House! Belvédère is open almost every day and with a very low budget none of this would be possible without the dedicated volunteers. Lillian indicates that the Verhalenhuis attaches great value to their volunteers and wants to give back as much as possible to show their appreciation. For example, the story house tries to help volunteers return to the labor market by guiding and coaching them and offering them a place where they can gain work experience. "They may not all be catering tigers when they come in, but if we can help someone on their way to one day setting up his or her own catering company, for example, that is of course very nice," she says proudly. They also try to make the connection between the elderly and young people in the story house in order to create involvement between not only many different cultures, but also age groups. Lillian was the first employee to take up volunteer recruitment through Zorgzaam010. "At first we often ended up with volunteers through other means or they came from the neighbourhood, but through Zorgzaam010 we immediately reach the people who are specifically looking for something like the Story House," says Lillian. The Verhalenhuis immediately received 6 registrations after placing the request for help and has kept a number of active volunteers. Lillian takes recruitment very seriously and thinks it is important that the volunteers know what the Verhalenhuis entails. She makes personal contact and actively looks for suitable volunteers who can do something for the Verhalenhuis. "Thea van der Meer is an example of someone we found through you, who makes us very happy every day. From the first meeting, Thea has been a hard-working, committed volunteer who is always willing to come. We clicked immediately between us," says Lillian. Het Verhalenhuis is always looking for enthusiastic volunteers who are willing to lend a hand. Does this sound like something to you? View the help questions here and see what you can do for Belvédère Share these stories and inspire others to help too! Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Whatsapp Forward

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