Voorschoten Offers Additional Support to Community Organizations

The municipality has set aside a substantial amount of money to provide assistance to community organizations in Voorschoten. The program is intended to supplement the national support and recovery package and is designed to ensure that residents can once again take full advantage of a diverse range of sports, cultural, and wellness activities after the lockdown.

Councilman Marcel Cramwinckel (Finance): “We want to prevent our community organizations from collapsing due to the COVID-19 crisis. Everyone in this village looks forward to something: soccer practice, the painting class, choir rehearsal, or getting together at the library or community center. We’re doing everything we can to help these community organizations so that they can resume their activities once this crisis is over.”

Lower revenue and a need to reorganize due to COVID-19 measures

Virtually all community organizations are facing financial difficulties. Think of community centers, cultural institutions, sports clubs, and the library. Some organizations have seen their income drop significantly because members are leaving or the cafeteria is closed. Others have invested a great deal of time (and often incurred costs) to adapt their services to the current circumstances and regulations.

COVID-19 relief is tailored to individual circumstances. Non-commercial organizations that rent space from the municipality may be reimbursed for up to six months of rent. These organizations (approximately 30) were able to submit an application in January. The organizations must demonstrate that they have suffered financial losses as a result of the national COVID-19 measures and that these financial losses are not covered by other programs. The municipality has also asked the organizations to take advantage of this offer only if they truly need this amount to continue carrying out their community activities.

Mariska Koning-Roozendaal, director of the library:“On the one hand, the pandemic has led to higher costs for us—for example, because we have to purchase protective equipment. On the other hand, we’re missing out on revenue from sources such as room rentals, activities, the sale of decommissioned books, and fees for printing, copying, and overdue books. So the library is very grateful for the support. We’re already operating on a budget with a deficit, and the pandemic is making everything even more difficult. We’re doing everything we can to maintain our opening hours and keep our collection up to date, because people in Voorschoten read a lot!”

Working Together to Find Solutions

Alderman Marcel Cramwinckel: “We certainly don’t just help organizations in Voorschoten with money, but also by figuring out how we can get through this crisis together. And we’re thinking of other groups, such as business owners, seniors, families, and young people. Here are a few examples: through Voorschoten Voor Elkaar, we’ve set up the Business Assistance Desk. Business owners can turn to this desk not only for financial concerns but also for questions about emotional stress and work-life balance. And the Youth and Young Adults’ Services department is working on organizing additional activities. This is how we’re trying to reach everyone together with appropriate solutions.”