Other donations

Activity / sport / school

We know that mental and physical health go hand in hand with people feeling good and being able to develop. But health and wellbeing are not evenly distributed across society. Our increasingly screen-dependent lives also seem to be reinforcing the tendency towards a general increase in health problems among young people. The Foundation is involved in various projects aimed at giving children and young people the right conditions for an active, healthy life. Helping young people find meaningful leisure activities and lowering the entry barriers for participation are aims shared by several organisations that the Foundation supports.

GENERATION PEP

SEK 5 M / 3 YEARS Among many other things, Generation Pep uses nationwide campaigns, local pop-up events and school programmes to encourage people to enjoy being active and increase awareness of what we all need to feel good. Through methodical, longterm work to influence people the organisation works for these matters to be integrated into our daily lives. Every year it publishes the Pep Report (in partnership with the SOM Institute) which reports facts concerning young people’s health habits. To make it easier for people to make healthy life choices, the organisation works with its network of partners to produce such things as activity materials for schools, well-priced sportswear, and appealing healthy alternatives to sweets. The organisation has received support from the Erling-Persson Foundation on two occasions.

DJURGÅRDENS SKOL IF SPORTS CLUB

SEK 3 M / 3 YEARS The sports club Djurgårdens Skol IF started its activities in 2020, realising that sport needed to use outreach activities to engage young people and become aware of what is stopping them from joining in. To really become part of children’s daily lives, they determined that the activities had to take place where the children were and be integrated into the school environment. In 2021 they expect to be able to offer sports activities at around 20 schools following directly on from the school day. The focus will be on making all students feel welcome to take part in activities that are fun to do, guided by fair values. Performance will be secondary. The head of sports at the school will work with the school staff to create positive and inclusive environments in the school playground too, and will also encourage local clubs to work with the schools.

Support in a worrying time of crisis

Children and young people with differing abilities struggle with the same issues as other young people, including issues surrounding identity, self-worth and the state of the world. We also know that people with disabilities have a greater than average risk of suffering discrimination. They also generally have poorer mental health than the average population.

The ability to ask for help in protecting themselves and safeguarding their rights can vary greatly between individuals. For a child who is very dependent, it can be almost impossible. At the same time, the opportunity to talk to someone from outside about what they are thinking or have experienced can be crucial for their mental wellbeing in the short and long term. For hearing youngsters there are well-established helplines they can contact, but for a long time there was no such option for deaf or hearing-impaired young people.

SVERIGES DÖVAS UNGDOMSFÖRBUND (SWEDISH ASSOCIATION FOR DEAF YOUTH)

SEK 100,000 / 1 YEAR That’s why in 2017 the Swedish Association for Deaf Youth started its sign-language service BOUJT for children and young people. Today it is the only helpline aimed at deaf and hearingimpaired children and young people in Sweden. Specially trained volunteers meet the young people directly and support them via chat or video calls. Questions can also be asked by email or in a digital question box, where people can also read questions others have asked. BOUJT also offers courses for adults, so that they can provide better support for this target group.

Support when children suffer illness

Being ill and spending long periods in hospital is not something we want to associate with childhood. Nonetheless, children sometimes become seriously ill or have long-term illnesses.

The situations they find themselves in are often a cause of great stress to the children and their families, but being ill can also be monotonous and boring. A young life is put on hold, and possibly no one really knows how long. At such times entertainment or distraction can be particularly welcome, or perhaps the opportunity to experience something really special.

CLOWNMEDICIN

SEK 1.055 M / 1 YEAR Clownmedicin provides professional clowns who visit sick children and their families in hospital. The aim is to spread joy and make life easier for the children, their siblings and parents and the staff, so that their time in the hospital is not as hard.

MIN STORA DAG (MY SPECIAL DAY)

SEK 1 M / 1 YEAR The organisation Min Stora Dag (My Special Day) also works to give pleasure to children with serious illnesses and diagnoses. It’s concept is all about making the children’s dreams come true. On their special day the child gets to experience something they have dreamed of doing or gets to meet someone they admire, or to have fun with others who know what it’s like to be in their situation.

Support for finding the way to the future

How do you know what you want to do in your future career? And how can you achieve your goal? These are big questions, and many young people feel lost when they think about the future. The support they need to find their way varies. Some may find motivation to get through school if supported in identifying their long-term goal, while others already know what their goal is but need guidance in understanding how they might get there.

MITT LIVS VAL (CHOICE OF A LIFETIME)

SEK 300,000 / 2 YEARS Mitt Livs Val (Choice of a Lifetime) wants to inspire and motivate newly arrived young people aged from 16 to 20 to continue with their studies. The organisation recruits students at universities and colleges to help do this. The idea is that it gives both the youngsters and the students an opportunity to gain new insights. Direct meetings between the students and young people enable the youngsters to find out how to get into higher education, while the students find out what it’s like to be new to a country and perhaps have a different cultural background to the majority population.

The long-term aim is to contribute to a society in which fewer young people are excluded and in which more students enter working life as inclusive colleagues, managers and citizens.

FRYSHUSET

SEK 15 M / 3 YEARS Helping young people find their goals and drivers is something that the Fryshuset Foundation does through many of its activities. As part of the Lamp project, a new activity is being started that is specifically aimed at young people’s route from school into working life. To this end, Fryshuset is starting a study and careers guidance centre with national reach – a complement to the activities that currently go on locally. The aim is to show young people realistic paths into study and work, so that they don’t get stuck in passivity and exclusion.

MENTOR SWEDEN

SEK 3.6 M / 2 YEARS The organisation Mentor has a vision of a world in which young people are allowed to grow and develop healthily. Mentor works in various ways to achieve this vision, its target group being young people aged from 13 to 17. In the individual mentoring programme the young person gets their own mentor to talk things over with – whether its something big or small doesn’t matter – for up to a year. The young people who have taken part generally say that it improved their self-esteem and that they feel more inspired for the future. Mentor also organises job inspiration activities for groups of young people, as well as courses for parents that deal with what it’s like to be young today.