Volunteer award for Margreet Steeghs-Hoffman and youth ribbon for Julia Versteijnen

During the municipal New Year's Meeting on Monday evening, January 8, 2024, Alderman Niels Wouters presented the annual volunteer awards at Het Klooster in Nuenen.

Youth ribbon 2023

The 2023 Youth Ribbon went to Julia Versteijnen. Ever since she was 12 years old, Julia (15) comes with her mother Iris every Saturday to volunteer at Allstarz. She does not turn her hand to caring for children with disabilities. Julia has been coming along on all camps and vacation weeks for years. She is sweet, involved and very motivated to help.

That is why Julia was awarded the 2023 Youth Ribbon. She received a check worth 150 euros.

Volunteer of the Year 2023

The award for Volunteer of the Year 2023 went to Ms. Margreet Steeghs-Hoffman.

Margreet has been working as an advisor at Stichting Leergeld for 15 years. She gives personal advice to families and encourages parents to let their children participate in activities such as sports and culture. She also encourages them to take advantage of other opportunities, such as obtaining school supplies, laptops, bicycles and swimming lessons through the foundation.

In addition to her consulting work, Margreet does additional tasks. She trains new counselors so they can work independently after the induction period. Margreet serves as a role model for other counselors and helps with child development in a variety of ways.

That is why Margreet was named volunteer of 2023. The statuette and the check worth 1,000 euros for Stichting Leergeld Nuenen was received by Peter Hendrickx, chairman of Stichting Leergeld Nuenen. Margreet unfortunately could not attend the New Year's Meeting. Margreet thanked everyone from her vacation address via a video message.  

Annual volunteer awards

Recognizing and appreciating volunteer work is important to the municipality of Nuenen. The municipality therefore presents the Volunteer Award every year to residents who have provided a special volunteer service. For young volunteers the municipality of Nuenen will award the youth ribbon from 2021. In this way, the municipality wants to give young people an extra incentive to do voluntary work.

The awards are a symbolic token of appreciation for all volunteers in the municipality. The independent jury evaluates the nominations and ultimately chooses the volunteers of the year.