Youth Fund wants continued involvement with Rotterdam Pass to maximize reach of children | May 28, 2025
Youth Fund wants continued involvement with Rotterdam Pass for maximum reach of children
Last Monday, the Rotterdam Youth Fund for Sports & Culture issued an urgent appeal to Alderman Norville to cooperate with the Rotterdam Pass, after the municipality of Rotterdam decided to discontinue its subsidy. The fund, which reaches approximately 9,000 children annually and collaborates with 1,250 volunteers, fears that thousands of children and young people will be left out by the new scheme, which relies entirely on the Rotterdam Pass.
Research shows that approximately 23% of current Youth Fund users are ineligible for the reduced rate of the Rotterdam Pass. This concerns approximately 2,000 children growing up in poverty, including those whose parents are in debt restructuring and have been granted refugee status. Furthermore, experience in Amsterdam, where the Youth Fund and the City Pass have been working together for 10 years, shows that 65% of these parents submit their applications together with the Youth Fund.
Samir Azrioual, chair of the Youth Fund, warns against the rapid transition to the new approach and emphasizes the risk of children and providers running into problems. "The new approach impacts all stakeholders. We want to prevent the transition to the Rotterdam Pass from causing problems for children or providers," says Azrioual.
The Youth Fund, active in Rotterdam since 2007, has a strong bond of trust with parents and children and offers accessible and safe access to sports and cultural activities. Thanks to its national partnership with the Youth Fund Sport & Culture Netherlands, the fund can operate very cost-efficiently with its four employees.
There is a call for collaboration with the Rotterdam Pass to achieve the shared goal of enabling children from low-income families to participate in sports and cultural activities as much as possible.
Read here the full letter.
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