Tonnie uses his work experience and achieves success with Achilles

The volunteer story of Hans Can you tell us who you are, what you do in your free time, and what your interests are? Of course, with pleasure. I am Hans, 52 years old, married, with four children, and I work as a Security Consultant. In my free time, I enjoy going to metal concerts and have a passion for alternative music. Can you tell us more about the volunteer work you do and the organization you are involved with? Certainly, fourteen years ago, I started as a volunteer at GIGANT. Initially, I worked as a bartender, but I soon became a volunteer DJ. At concerts, I take care of the music between performances. And what motivates you to do volunteer work? For me, volunteering enriches my life. It gives me the opportunity to spend my free time differently. Thanks to my involvement with GIGANT, I can enjoy concerts and movies that I might not otherwise attend. Additionally, I meet many new people by working together during events. I get to see many performances up close, go behind the scenes, and meet musicians backstage. That sounds like a great place to volunteer. What touches you the most in your volunteer work? For me, GIGANT has become like a second family. I enjoy connecting with people, whether they are staff, volunteers, or visitors. I love talking to people about music, which helps me create a connection with them. Even while cleaning up, I engage with people by asking about their music preferences and then playing those songs. This makes the evening feel truly shared by everyone. That certainly seems to contribute to a positive atmosphere. What does your voluntary contribution mean for the people and the organization you work with? What I really enjoy is that during the setup and takedown of concerts, I get the chance to get to know the bands and other people in the music scene better. As a DJ, I am part of the overall concert experience for the visitors. It goes beyond a standard playlist; I introduce people to new music, tell them about it, and let them hear the sounds of unknown bands. It gives me great satisfaction to inspire others and help them enjoy music they might not otherwise discover. That is truly inspiring, Hans. Thank you for sharing your story with us and for your dedication to volunteer work and music.

Nature is my great passion. As a mother of three children, Maartje, Cato, and Jelte, and working as a kindergarten teacher, it's wonderful to relax in nature. Here I find peace, inspiration, and wonder. I have been married to my husband Daniel for seven years. As a big animal lover, I have a few furry kids: Pleuntje the dachshund and recently added guinea pigs Soof and Lobke. Six years ago, we consciously decided to live energy-neutral. My love for nature actually began in my childhood. I used to walk around with a doll pram full of snails, and not just the pram was full, my face was too. I have always loved being outdoors, and nature continues to fascinate me. As a mother and teacher, I find it valuable to teach children respect, interest, and wonder for nature. At IVN, the Institute for Nature Education and Sustainability, I volunteer in the Scharrelkids working group. In this group, we organize forest and ditch excursions for elementary school children to stimulate their love and wonder for nature. These excursions are a valuable addition to regular elementary education. Initially, I gave the excursions myself. At home, I have a little one-year-old, so I could no longer combine giving excursions with motherhood. Therefore, I have adjusted my role in the volunteer work, and I am happy to contribute ideas to the working group. As a mother, I also involve my oldest child in volunteering: together, we help the animal protection organization with the toad migration. Once, I read on a chocolate bar wrapper that doing two hours of volunteer work per week makes you happier. That got me thinking, and I quickly knew I wanted to do something with my passion for nature and animals. After some research, I found IVN, where my love for education and nature comes together. Teaching nature knowledge to children is close to my heart, and I find satisfaction in it. What really motivates me to volunteer is the enthusiasm and wonder I see in children when they discover nature. Not all parents have the time or interest to let their children experience nature, so I happily share my own passion and knowledge with them. It is important that children learn how to take responsibility for their environment and care for it. I want to show children what they can discover in their own garden or schoolyard; there is life everywhere. When we find insects outside, children are often hesitant, for example, if they see a woodlouse. But by patiently observing with them and showing how the creature reacts, fear turns into excitement and wonder. "Wow, it rolls up!" The shared enthusiasm and wonder children have for nature deeply touch me. For example, during one of our forest excursions, the children discovered a salamander, something they had never seen before: "Nature is really so beautiful!" It was fantastic to see the happy faces! That moment of wonder confirms to me that children naturally have a strong bond with nature and that nature is a wonderful teacher. As a teacher, I can contribute well to the Scharrelkids working group, especially regarding what is possible within elementary education. In my work, I incorporate much of what I have learned in IVN courses. I believe it is important to teach children respect and understanding for nature, and IVN provides valuable support in this. With nature education, children's perception of nature and animals changes. The "snail lesson" I once gave is a great example of this. I collected snails and brought them to school. By getting used to the snails, enthusiasm arose. The children saw letters in the snail trails, made snail shells, and held snail races. It was amazing to see how their perception changed. Through my volunteer work at IVN, I have grown in my role as a teacher. It has strengthened me in how I can use nature in children's learning and development.

Janneke Verboom lives with her boyfriend and two children in Apeldoorn and works for Waterschap Vallei en Veluwe. In her free time, she enjoys photography, yoga, pilates, and walking. During her walks, she became increasingly aware of litter, Janneke explains. “We walk a lot, in the forest, but also around the neighborhood. We often thought, wow, there’s a lot of trash everywhere. We should really bring a grabber and a bag to clean it up sometime. Last year, we went to the Zero-Waste festival and visited the Heel Apeldoorn Rein booth. There, we got two grabbers and bags, and I started picking up litter during our walks, sometimes with the kids.” Fit & tidy When Janneke started picking up litter during her walks, she also learned about a group of ploggers. “The word plogging is a combination of jogging and the Swedish word ‘plocka,’ which means to collect. You go for a run and pick up litter along the way. The combination of being active and doing something useful sounded good to me. I contacted Zero Waste Apeldoorn and signed up. Now, I plog every second Sunday of the month. We plog in different city areas and look for places where not much litter is picked up. Each time, we cover between 5 to 8 km. This sounds like a lot, but we don’t run continuously. Sometimes, there’s a lot of litter, and you spend time picking it up. It’s nice that we consider each other’s pace and you can slow down if needed.” Plogging is effective and fun! Cleaning up someone else’s mess, is that fun? “Absolutely,” Janneke says enthusiastically. “First, it’s satisfying to see the immediate results of our efforts. You can clearly see the difference before and after our plogging. I hope our plogging raises awareness so that less litter is thrown away. Besides the usefulness of cleaning up, plogging is very enjoyable. I get to chat with a nice group, be outside, and stay active. Sometimes we start at someone’s house and end with coffee and tea. In December, we always do a plogging round in Christmas outfits around Hoog Soeren and finish at the pancake house. Another fun aspect of our plogging rounds is that we occasionally find small treasures among the litter. For instance, I found a nice coffee cup that I now use.” Second Sunday of the month, a regular calendar event When Janneke was asked to share her story about her volunteer work, she was surprised. “For me, this doesn’t feel like volunteer work; I just enjoy doing it. Plogging has become a routine and is on the calendar for every second Sunday of the month. It’s nice to have this regular event because I rarely find time to plog in between due to daily busy schedules. This fixed moment each month is a great anchor and only takes me about two hours each time.” Raising awareness about litter The plogging group regularly receives reactions and is noticed in Apeldoorn. “During our monthly plogging, we often get thumbs-up, thank-yous, and compliments about the good work we’re doing. People are curious and want to know why we do it and which organization we’re from. This is a great opportunity to talk about Zero Waste Apeldoorn and inspire others. I even inspired my neighbor. He saw me picking up litter and got enthusiastic, so now he also regularly takes a grabber and a bag when he walks his dog.” Interested in plogging or plandelen? See what you can do at Zero Waste Apeldoorn: https://www.apeldoornpaktaan.nl/o/Zero-Waste-Apeldoorn/activiteiten