Vooruitgangstraat 323 b6, 1030 Brussels, tel. 02/204 06 50, info@netwerktegenarmoede.be HOMEABOUT USOUR ASSOCIATIONSPOSITION & FILEOUR TRAINING OFFERCONTACTVACANCIES Home Association in the picture ASSOCIATION IN THE PICTURE THE MERRY CIRCLE MOVEMENT OF PEOPLE WITH LOW INCOME AND CHILDREN NEIGHBORHOOD WORK 'T LAMPEKE THE HASSELT BRIDGE UPRIGHT 'T SCHOEDERKLOPTJE FOURTH WORLD WORK MOL VZW ASSOCIATION IN THE PICTURE: FOURTH WORLD GROUP PEOPLE FOR PEOPLE IN AALST “For us, a play-o-theek is so much more than a lending service for toys. It is a place where we like to stay, together with our children. They can play games here, but also cycle outside. Our children have already discovered things here that we had never heard of. And that we would never be able to pay in the store. This is a second home for us and our children. We also learn a lot from each other. Here you can ask each other for advice in a safe environment, without being reprimanded. That means more for the education of our children than 10 parenting books together. Our children see their world expanding. With a living wage or other benefit you do not have the budget to provide all of this yourself. ” These are the words of Cindy, Sonia, Marianne and Kimberley, all volunteers from the Fourth World Group People for People in Aalst. Cindy, Marianne and Kimberley are mainly active in the parent group. As an expert by experience, Sonia helped guide the WAW trajectory (a trajectory for vulnerable people to get to work in a sustainable way) and has been focusing on the theme of work for several years. She is also one of the driving forces behind the permanence, group discussions where people can exchange experiences on the most diverse themes: upbringing, work, culture, you name it. Sometimes there are also moments of formation associated with it. If you pop into the play-o-theek on Wednesday afternoon, you will be greeted with a pleasant crowd. Children playing, parents chatting, the rattle of bicycles and the tapping of pawns. “This is the play area that we don't have at home for our children,” explains Cindy. “I couldn't miss this for the world. Everyone talks about child poverty, but we are working on this in a very concrete way. Here children are given the opportunity to expand their horizons, gain new impressions and learn. “ Social isolation Many associations within the Network against Poverty have a playground or work aimed at vulnerable families with children: via low-threshold childcare, parent groups or specific youth activities. Vulnerable young people find it difficult to find their way to classical youth work. Too expensive, insecurity, social isolation, past negative experiences of exclusion, it makes it very difficult for young people born in poverty to find their way to the youth movement or sports clubs, for example. With youth work specifically aimed at them, they get out of their social isolation, they can engage positively, they have a safe space to catch their breath, the bridge to regular youth work or a sports association can sometimes be built and, very importantly , they get a voice. GO! education of the Flemish Community believes it is important to support activities around vulnerable children and young people, in which both young people and parents are given an important voice. The schools of GO! will sell cuddly toys during Music For Life for the benefit of the children's and youth activities of the Network against Poverty, including the play-o-theek of the Fourth World Group People for People. An action that the associations where the poor take the floor are naturally very happy about. GO! for life “We are of course very happy with this,” says Frederic Vanhauwaert coordinator of Network against Poverty. “This will give our work with children and young people an important boost. We can invest the collected money in play libraries and in even more training for pupils, teachers and boards in GO !. But this action is not only a big boost from a financial point of view. Equally important is the message of poverty reduction from the knowledge and experience of people in poverty themselves. The GO! this action also and above all gives a very important social signal. ” Based on that knowledge and experience, people in poverty bring up very concrete problems. With the school allowance, for example. “Many people find it very difficult to fill it in, or they sometimes don't even know that they are entitled to it,” says Cindy. “And in many cases people do not dare to take the step to submit an application. It is painful to see so many families fall by the wayside every school year. That is why we recently organized an information afternoon in the playground to lower the threshold for completing the application. During opening hours, parents are already here anyway. Then it is easy to view this with them. If you have several children, this can reduce your school bill by several hundred euros. In other words, anything but an unnecessary luxury. ” Outfit The UiTPAS, a pass that allows you to affordably participate in leisure activities in a number of cities and municipalities, is now gradually being rolled out across Flanders. With a targeted discount system, people on a low income can easily buy tickets or register for leisure activities without getting a stamp. Fourth World Group People for People has done pioneering work here, together with Welfare Switch Ommekeer from Erpe-Mere. The first UiTPAS was created in Aalst and surrounding municipalities, as a follow-up to the opportunities pass that was created in 1995 in the Fourth World Group. “Those discounts are important, but not enough,” explains Marianne. “People also have to overcome a mental barrier. They often think that culture is not for them. I thought so at first, but in the meantime a whole new world has opened up for me. You need affordable leisure activities just as much as you need bread on the table. People in poverty often withdraw between their four walls. Out of shame and guilt. That inside of poverty is still too often ignored. You cannot tackle the outside (work, income, housing, affordable healthcare, ...) without also working on the inside. And you can only do that by bringing people out of their isolation. This is perhaps even more important for children. They are all about preventions that they isolate themselves. When your network of friends, acquaintances or family falls apart, it is very difficult to rebuild it. Culture and leisure participation are therefore desperately needed. Just like other people, we also like to enjoy beautiful things - only sometimes we don't know it and that is why it is good that we discover this through the Fourth World Group. ” Inside of poverty Sonia is very concerned with the insides of poverty: “Living in poverty for years causes great mental damage. People don't feel good about themselves, suffer from a lack of self-confidence or have little confidence in other people. ” In the WAW process she saw that it is possible to work on this. WAW was drawn up by Fourth World Group People for People with support from Europe. It stands for Work-Poverty-Well-being. “The intention was to guide vulnerable people in a tailor-made process, to work or to training. The guidance to work (by VDAB, GTB or Groep Intro), guidance in the field of well-being (by OCMW or CAW) and group work on the inside of poverty (by a tandem of Fourth World Group People for People), it was all tackled in an integrated manner. This significantly increases the chances of success. In our association we developed this new WAW method, of which important elements have meanwhile been included in the VDAB's W² trajectories. In this way something has changed for and with people in poverty in Aalst, but also for many others in Flanders. ” The 'Binnenste Buitengroep' has also grown from the WAW trajectory, a group trajectory on the inside of poverty and the theme of 'debts'. In this way, people regain control of their lives and steps are taken forward in their lives on the one hand, and a dialogue is initiated with services such as OCMW and CAW Aalst to strengthen debt counseling on the other.