Lars (16) and Mehrzad (16) Win the National vfonds Children’s Prize 2023

All nominees share their stories. Featuring performances by rapper Pjotr, nominee Emma Kok, nominee Christian, World of Afro dancers, brass band Ritmo, Vincent on guitar, Odilie on cello, Lydia on violin, dance champions Owen and Aisha, Commissioner of the King Hans Oosters, and vfonds director Marieke van Schijndel.

Christian is a piano talent who gave over 60 concerts in nursing homes this year to bring joy to the elderly. He hopes other young people will follow his example. “Everyone can do something for the elderly, like reading aloud, juggling, or playing cards. There are care centers everywhere. Even if you do something just once a month, it makes people happy.”

Emma enchants everyone with her singing and uses her talent to make the world a bit more beautiful. Emma became famous this year with her performance as a singer with André Rieu. She draws attention to her foundation and the disease gastroparesis, also known as stomach paralysis. In addition, she performed at various celebrations and commemorations, such as at the cemetery in Margraten, where more than 8000 American WWII soldiers are buried.

Isabella advocates for Ukrainian children who have fled to the Netherlands. She helps the children with the Dutch language and organizes activities, meetings, and outings. Her mother is Ukrainian, and her father is Dutch. They adopted a dog from Bachmoet and ensured that other pets from that war-torn city were also taken in.

Lars has been working for years to promote democratic society. This year, he created a youth podcast about the Dutch parliamentary elections and applied as the only young person for the position of chairperson for the Children’s Rights Collective. He is also writing his second book: ‘Right to a Voice.’

Leentje, along with her classmates from St. Odradaschool, observed a nesting stork couple on the air raid siren in their village. Together, they ensured that the air raid siren remained silent on the first Monday of the month so that the storks could continue nesting peacefully.

Mehrzad is involved in many places advocating for peace, freedom, and democracy. He gave speeches at the Airborne commemoration in Arnhem and the Remembrance Day in Utrecht, interviewed veterans for a podcast, and opened the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek. Additionally, he attends various political events where he speaks with numerous prominent figures.

Thijn designed a wheelchair slide for which he received multiple awards. However, the slide itself is still not there. Thijn is not in a wheelchair himself but believes it’s important that everyone, with and without disabilities, can play together.