Evergem is a community near Ghent. It is divided in 9 subcommunities (former parishes). With 35.000 inhabitants it is a quite ‘stretched out’ community (75 km²), with a partial suburban, partial rural character. Evergem is located next to the harbor of Ghent, which brings a lot of industry nearby. Of the total population, 7.500 are younger than 19 years (21% - numbers from 2015).
There are 10 active youth organisations such as scouts, chiro and klj. There are also a lot of sport clubs with a youth division. All youth and sport organisations are indpendent organisations which are supported by the community (financial, logistic, infrastructure).
The youth service of the community in in charge of specific support towards these youth organisations. Furthermore they organise a youth organisation of their own, called ‘speelpleinwerking’, and a lot of other, smaller workshops for children. These activities especially take place during holidays (easter, summer). All these activities are organised with the help of a lot of young volunteers.
The youth service also organises the child care (pre and post school) in the community. They do this in a partnership with al primary schools in the commuity.
As a municipal service, we operate mostly within the leisure of children and young people. For our organization this leisure is a time of playing and ‘not having to’. The youth service has a short ‘mission statement’:
“The youth service is the link between children and young people and the municipality. The service uses their expertise to create meeting opportunities by and for children and young people, inspired by their own world of living. Through cooperation, dialogue and experiment, as a low-threshold contact point, we are aiming for optimal leisure opportunities for all children and young people in Evergem. We proactively build on an open community where children and young people have a place, are respected, and have a place for meeting in a ‘not having to’ -atmosphere”
Web;
More specific for youth and/or children;
https://www.evergem.be/jeugd
We have a youtube channel;
https://www.youtube.com/user/9940Evergem/videos?sort=dd&shelf_id=0&view=0
We also have another speelplein movie here;
https://www.evergem.be/product.aspx?id=11865
Facebook page;
https://www.facebook.com/Evergem/?fref=ts