KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds and the Premiership are leading seniors onto the pitch as player escorts

Last Sunday, during the Groningen FC vs Utrecht FC premier league game, a number of elderly people appeared as player escorts to raise awareness about the growing problem of loneliness and social isolation among this population group.

The ‘Week against Loneliness’ is organized annualy to draw attention to loneliness in the Netherlands. Currently, there are more than 4.1 million over-55s in the Netherlands, more than a million of whom feel lonely. Of them, 200,000 people are extremely lonely. They only have social contact but once a month. Earlier this month, residents of nursing homes in Groningen and Utrecht were surprised by the KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds, Sander de Kramer (known from programs such as De Rekenkamer and KRO’s De Wandeling), and former Groningen FC and Utrecht FC players. They were treated to a communal viewing of a football match in a space transformed into a real football club cantine. Subsequently, a number of football-loving seniors were invited onto the pitch last Sunday.

KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds

Social contact is important but cannot be taken for granted by everyone. There are all sorts of reasons for this, for example, illness, a disability, or the loss of a partner. The KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds was established in 2007 to facilitate projects that connect vulnerable groups in society. The KPN Mooiste Contact Fonds applies technology, resources and people to bring people who feel lonely in contact with the world around them again.