DK / EN
Every year, around a thousand children aged 7 to 14 are helped at one of Denmark’s five Christmas Seal Homes. The common factor for the great majority of them is that they are unhappy because of loneliness, bullying and social isolation.
“At the Christmas Seal Homes we give children and their families a chance to make a new start. A stay at a Christmas Seal Home lasts ten weeks, but the full programme is six months from the preliminary visit to the follow-up day. Children stay here together with other children who are also working on their challenges. A clear framework, new communities and the right combination of healthy food and exercise help the children to find their strengths. They build up self-esteem by learning new ways of looking at themselves and the world,” explains Mette Grovermann from the Christmas Seal Foundation.
Before, during and after the stay at a home, the parents’ support is quite crucial if a child is to fulfil the intentions of staying at a home and maintain the good results in the longer term.
“So we actively involve the parents throughout the process, for instance at parents’ days and with weekend assignments, which they carry out with their child. We also work with the children’s schools and local authorities to make sure each child gets the best possible support after a stay at a Christmas Seal Home,” says Mette Grovermann.